


Trouble With The Trickster

by FearTheWinterSoldier



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:45:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 46
Words: 55,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearTheWinterSoldier/pseuds/FearTheWinterSoldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The child of Darkness and Light is a deadly threat to both - can it prove to be better than them all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this for Wattpad but I'm a bit apprehensive about uploading it on there as the SPN Wattpad family is slightly thin on the ground.

I lay awake, staring into the darkness of my room. The shadows seemed to dance in the light of the candle on my bedside table, sparking terrible nightmares behind my eyelids and allowing my imagination to run wild like the huge dogs in my mind. I was scared; terrified to close my eyes for the fear of the creatures that lurked beneath my bed and in my closet.No one had ever believed they were real. They said that I was imagining things; that I should just go to bed, close my eyes, forget about the monsters, but they were frighteningly real and they taunted me when the lights were out...

My mother had finally given in and allowed the candle in my room despite my father's arguments about it being a fire risk. I would have been grateful for the light source but it made the nightmares worse, sending shadows creeping across the walls, getting closer and closer every night.

Only I could see them; the huge black beasts who lived in my room. Even when I pointed them out to my parents, they seemed to look straight through them, dismissing their existence as they growled at the foot of my bed. They always seemed to bay for my blood...

I could hear them growling as I lay there, wincing as one of them dug their claws into my forearm - no doubt drawing blood. When my mother had seen the wounds, she was horrified but for all the wrong reasons; she swore they were self-inflicted, lectured me on how 'I had a perfect life', took me to multiple psychiatrists. After the third one, I began to realise there was no use telling them the truth - they would never believe me, only give me more medication - so I played along, accepted anti-depressants and let my mother win.

And yet the dogs still came that night...

As the clawed abuse continued, she still refused to believe the truth and I was sent away to a special hospital where I was instructed to 'get better and be normal' upon arrival. Over the two weeks I was there, I slept the most I had ever slept in fifteen years; the beasts were confined to my bedroom it seemed, they couldn't touch me there.

Of course, this sleeping signalled to to doctors that I was recovering. My mother had convinced them that I was self-harming and, as I had shown no signs of that, they figured I was over it. I returned home - to the hellish reality of my own bedroom - within two days.

And so the onslaught of pain and nightmares continued and, since my absence had angered the many beasts in my room, the pain was far worse - they hadn't enjoyed being without their chew toy for so many nights. I often pitied them although I knew I shouldn't; what would their lives have become without me?

The weeks went on, my mother and father growing more afraid of me by the day as my skin became flayed and bloody overnight despite being bandaged the previous evening. They couldn't find an excuse for it any more and that made them scared - the cuts still appeared even when they stripped the room bare and locked the door but they still refused to believe my pleas about the monsters.

Then, they gave up. One day, they just broke down, refused to speak about it anymore and decided to try to overlook it and act like a normal family. They made me wear long sleeves in public, knowing how much they burned my skin; if anyone asked why I looked so tired and sad, I was to say that the family pet had passed away. No one ever questioned the amount of dead pets I had...

That was where my parents failed - trying to make me normal. If only I knew then what I know now... if only the winged man had appeared in my room sooner... if only I'd known I could never be normal...

So I tried my best to be normal, laughing with other people at school, doing 'normal teenager things'. I was a seventeen-year-old girl, afraid of the creatures under her bed, who self-harmed for no apparent reason - at least, that's how they saw me.

So there I lay, awake and afraid in the darkness of my room, watching the shadows dance and feeling claws drag down my arm. 

Then the light came.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bewildered Elizabeth is faced with an angel in her bedroom

I screamed internally as I felt their huge claws cut deep into my flesh. You'd have thought I would have been used to it by then, suffering the same trauma every night for the previous twelve years, but it still hurt like a raging fire in my veins. They were ripping open scars that had been torn apart only days earlier and that was the worst pain imaginable. Worse than death which I prayed for every night but it never came.

The dogs growled as they tore my skin to shreds, happily ripping me apart limb by limb. I had never figured out why they did it, only wished they would stop even though it was hopeless. 

My parents had become immune to my screams, they even soundproofed my room so I wouldn't disturb their sleep whilst dying a bloody death - they were loving like that.

They still didn't believe me which was proved by the vicar they invited to the house earlier that day, my eighteenth birthday; he sat and talked with me for a while and I decided to tell him the truth, the widening of his eyes giving me great joy as he came to the conclusion that I was possessed by Satan or something. I feel like Satan would have been better company than the monsters that took happiness from bleeding me dry...

I fought against them but it just made them more ravenous and more eager to taste my blood. I couldn't get free, I don't know what I expected... I would never be free.

As they continued to tear into me, I could have sworn I heard something flapping across the room from me but I couldn't see as a bright white light suddenly filled my vision. It burned my skin but died down and faded after a few seconds as I realised something had gone missing...

The dogs were gone.

In their place was a man. He stood by my window, looking around as if searching for something before his blue eyes fell on me, immediately looking shocked before rushing forward at inhuman speed. I shouted in confusion and protest as he placed a hand to my forehead but I was silenced by a warm sensation travelling from his hand throughout my body.

"Are you alright?" he asked as the weird warmth disappeared. I looked down at my forearms and gasped; where there were once huge, deep gashes, there were now only tiny scars, running from my elbows to my wrists like veins.

"W-what? H-how?" 

He breathed a small sigh of relief and carefully helped me sit up, taking a seat beside me, "I healed you... I only wish I hadn't had the need to..." He looked away somewhat guiltily.

"Healed me? How? What were those things?" I questioned, leaving many other questions unasked.

"I'm an angel," he clarified as my eyes went wide, "Those were hellhounds... I think your mother sent them..."

"My mother? My mother is asleep in her room across the hall, how could she send those... hellhounds?"

The angel sighed, scratching his chin in thought, "How do I explain this simply? ...Those people out there are not your parents..."

"What!? Of course they are!" I exclaimed as he shushed me frantically, "Oh, they won't hear me. They've soundproofed the room so that they can't hear my screams..."

He suddenly looked hurt and betrayed, "You mean... they don't care about you?" I shook my head. "I trusted them with your life... and they mistreated you?"

I decided not to question what he said about trusting them. I just wanted to tell someone the truth at that point and this guy seemed to be very open to weird occurrences, "They think I'm crazy... because of the hellhounds..."

The angel held out his arms, seeing the tears glistening in my eyes at the same moment as I realised I was crying. I leaned into his side and let him hold me as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away my tears. "What did they name you?"

"Elizabeth. Mother's - or not-Mother's, as you say - grandma was called Elizabeth so she gave me the same name. What's yours?"

"Balthazar," he replied, smiling down at me, "Forgive me for gazing at you, but I haven't laid eyes on your face in eighteen years..."

"You know me?" I asked and he nodded, "How?"

"Your mother - your real mother - is called Darwena... we met a long time ago, I was so young and reckless back then..."

"Darwena?" I asked, taken aback by the bizarre name, "And she sent the hellhounds? Why would she attack her own daughter?"

"She despises you. She believes you are an abomination. I'll admit I also did for a time... that is why I left you here, with these people," he sighs, seemingly troubled by his misplaced trust in my 'parents'. I don't know why I accepted his words as the truth so quickly but I never really felt I fit in with them, they didn't understand me... they never did. This guy seemed to at least feel sorry for me.

"A-an abomination? W-why?" I stammered, hurt by the harsh term.

"Because of what you are. More importantly, your bloodlines - they are two which should never cross... You shouldn't exist. Elizabeth, this may come as a shock, but you are half demon, half angel..."

I would have laughed at the bizarreness of his claim but the look in his eyes told me he wasn't kidding, "What? So my mother...?"

"Darwena is a demon. A very powerful one. Once she knew you existed, she tried her best to abort you but no matter what she tried, you fought on and she had to bring you into the world reluctantly. She then abandoned you with me - at the time, I had the same feelings towards your existence but I had heart so I left you with these people, casting a protection spell over you so that no demons, angels or hunters could track you down... she must've broken through with the hounds..."

Everything seemed to make sense all of a sudden; the monsters, not being normal, the lack of belonging in my own family. Perhaps this was all true... "Wait, so you're...?"

"I'm your father," Balthazar sighed guiltily, "Like I said, I hated your existence, but now that I look at you I can see that protecting you was the right choice. The spell I cast was only temporary though, and that is why I had to get you tonight. Pack a bag, you need to come with me."

"What? Why?" I asked but my answer was given by a second light outside my window, more blinding than Balthazar's, followed by an earsplitting crash.

"Because of them."


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On learning who her Dad is, Elizabeth flees with him from the God Squad.

"Stay behind me!" Balthazar shouted, spreading his huge brown wings behind him and facing the window as another angel flew in, "Trust me, Castiel. You don't wanna do this."

I heard Castiel reply but didn't stop to hear what he'd said. I was too busy frantically stuffing clothes and other belongings into a rucksack, my heart pounding at over a hundred kilometres an hour. After finding all of the important things - toothbrush, deodorant, clean clothes, etc. - I went over to my special drawer, where I kept everything that meant something to me - the ticket from the first concert I went to, a signed photo from a celebrity I met on the train, a lock of my baby hair. 

I left everything else behind - everything that reminded me of my pretend parents, the ones who claimed to love me...

Once done, I hitched my bag onto my back and looked over at Balthazar who was now taking on three different angels at once. "Done!"

He looked over his shoulder, "Get over here! Put your arms around my waist and hold on tight!"

I did as he said, wrapping my newly-healed forearms around his lower torso, careful not to catch any feathers as I held on. More angels burst in through the window, all with different coloured wings flapping against the walls and ceiling, joining in with the onslaught against Balthazar. 

Then, just as they seemed to be winning, they disappeared from view. I thought they'd gone before I looked around and realised that it was us that had moved. Peering out around Balthazar's wings, I found we had travelled to a large, open room, filled with lavish furnishings and famous paintings which lined the walls. I'd never seen anything like it in my life - it was like a palace.

"Are you okay, Elizabeth?" Balthazar was the first to speak as I was still in awe of our surroundings. I looked up to find him looking down at me worriedly.

"Y-yeah... W-what was that?" I asked, slightly shaken by the sudden travelling.

"I teleported you here. This is my home."

"Nice," I commented and he seemed to calm down a bit as I got my bearings, letting go of his waist. He retracted his wings, making them invisible and tucking them down the back of his t-shirt as I began to walk around.

"Hey. I need to do something, come here," he beckoned and I went back to him apprehensively, "This might hurt..."

I flinched away as he placed a hand on my shoulder but he looked at me pleadingly so I relaxed slightly, feeling an intense scratching sensation going through my chest like a million needles. My face contorted in pain but I'd felt a lot worse and within seconds it was over. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

I looked down at my chest, expecting to see some sort of cuts across it but there were none visible, "What did you do?"

"Protected you. I carved some Enochian sigils into your ribs so that the other angels can't find you-"

"My ribs?" I asked in shock - no wonder it hurt...

"Yes. It's the most secure way to protect you. It hides you from all angels, including me so don't go out of my sight or I won't be able to find you again," he explained, showing me through a door into a smaller room with a flat screen TV and some comfy couches.

"Won't they be able to find you?" 

"Not for a while. We might have to keep moving in a few days but the house is protected, they can't track me without some serious mojo and most of them already think I'm dead."

"Oh," I replied, "I guess that's convenient..."

He cracked a smile, "Yes, I guess it is. I also have all of Heaven's weapons so that's also a plus!" He laughed before seeing my bewildered expression, "I'll explain later. In the meantime, I'd say you deserve a bit of fun after all you've been through... how about a movie?"

"That'd be cool," I said, smiling for the first time in a long while. I saw a glint of hope in his eyes as I did - maybe I could be happy here...

"Cool. What do you wanna watch?" he asked, jumping over the back of one of the couches and pulling me after him, both of us falling in a heap of giggles on the cushions.

"What have you got?" I was giggling so much it was barely audible but he still understood.

"Everything." He snapped his fingers and a DVD cabinet appeared to my left, the doors opening to reveal millions of different movies stacked one on top of another. I eagerly looked through them all, in complete amazement and spoilt for choice - my 'parents' were never huge fans of movies so I hadn't really watched many, so I chose one that sounded cool.

"Batman Begins?" he hums approvingly, putting it in the player, "Have you seen it before?" I shook my head, telling him that I hadn't really seen that many movies. "You haven't seen any movies! Believe me, Elizabeth, I will ensure you see every movie ever made within your lifetime. Just as soon as I convince my brothers that you're not a threat..."

"All of the angels are your brothers?" I asked as the movie started on the huge screen.

"Yeah, great family, eh?" he chuckles in self-pity, "There's the big brothers who you've probably heard of; the archangels, Michael, Raphael, Lucifer and Gabriel. The older three are dicks but Gabriel's okay, you might like him if he accepts that you aren't going to hurt anyone. The rest of us are all the same age; me, Castiel and the like. Basically, welcome to a world of endless uncles..."

"My parents - my fake parents, sorry - didn't have any siblings. What about my Mother?" His face fell slightly but he still answered.

"I'm not sure... I don't really know how demon bloodlines work but I'd guess she has a lot of siblings too. I admit, I haven't seen her or heard from her since she left you with me as a baby... I wouldn't pin your hopes on her having any maternal feelings towards you," he sighed, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I think I can manage with just a father. You're better than both of my other parents put together," I told him and he seemed ecstatic at the thought of it, "What should I call you, anyway?"

"That's up to you. I don't want to force you to refer to me as Dad-"

"Okay, Dad," I smiled and his face lit up as he pulled me into a hug, "This is the best family ever. Just the two of us."

"Just the two of us."


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth meets Gabriel and has a slight existential crisis.

I fell asleep somewhere towards the end of the movie, happy to get some real rest without terrible pain accompanying it. Dad must have noticed because when I awoke, I had been moved to a slightly smaller room with a beautiful dresser and a fourposter bed like the ones I only ever saw on old TV shows. The walls were painted light blue and printed along the border were tiny little angels, each with different wings like the ones I'd seen fighting with Dad before.

It was beautiful.

I could only guess that Balthazar had made this room for me especially, either while I slept or perhaps even before he came to rescue me.

As I sat up beneath the mountains of blankets he'd smothered me in, I could hear clattering from what I figured was the kitchen. What the heck was he doing? I got up and threw the covers back, placing my socked feet on the cool linoleum and padding over to the door just as it was thrown open and Dad rushed in, holding a tray with breakfast on.

We almost collided but he skidded to a stop just in time, looking up and laughing at the near miss, "I made you breakfast. Pancakes, okay?"

"Yeah, pancakes are great," I grinned, shifting back over to the bed and perching on the end as he placed the tray on my lap, "Did you make these?" He nodded. "I thought you could just, y'know, magic things up?"

"Well, I can, but I haven't made any food in ages. I don't eat. You don't really have to either but I guessed you'd probably grown accustomed to eating so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak..."

"I don't think I could ever not eat," I laughed, sticking my fork into the pancakes which oozed maple syrup and sugar, "Does that mean I can't put on weight?"

Dad chuckled, "You know, you remind me of Gabriel far too much..." I still had no idea who this 'Gabriel' guy was... "Yes, you don't receive any nutrients from food so you don't gain weight. Both the demon and the angel side of you give you that luxury."

"Hey, Dad?" I looked up, munching happily on the sweet doughy pancakes, "How exactly do I exist if you said I shouldn't?"

"Wow, going straight to the deep questions are we? Well, for one, demons and angels don't usually procreate. I was drunk, I think I thought your mother was an angel... bit of a bad shock in the morning..." He sighed and I giggled even though he was basically saying that I was a mistake - better a brilliant mistake than a wanted disappointment. "Anyway, demons burn at the touch of an angel's grace, that's a fact. You have half a grace yet your demon side has not been destroyed by it. This is extraordinary and, if I'm honest, I'm surprised you haven't exploded yet..."

"I'll try to refrain from doing that, then," I mumbled through the pancakes I'd stuffed in my mouth while he was talking.

"Yes. Please do," he smiled, coming to sit beside me just as we both heard a flutter of large wings coming from the lounge.

Balthazar darted up and disappeared into the other room as I hurried to put the tray down and rush after him. I didn't barge straight into the room in case it was one of the angry angels so I remained outside in the hall, listening as Dad talked to whoever it was.

"Balthazar, you realise that every angel up there wants your head on a spike, right?" the new one said, seemingly indifferent about the news he was breaking.

"Please, when have they ever not wanted to kill me?" I heard Dad reply and as I peeked around the door I saw that he had positioned himself between the angel and where I was standing so I couldn't see the other guy's face.

"True, true. Where is the abomination?"

"She's my daughter. She is not an abomination!" Balthazar replied angrily as I felt the ground shake with his wrath.

"Fine, fine, where is your daughter? Believe me, Balthy, I don't want to hurt her. I've never cared for politics, you know that..."

"...okay, but if you show any signs of violence, I will not hesitate to make use of this," I saw a glint of silver in Balthazar's hand and the other angel let out an unimpressed sigh, "Elizabeth, you can come in now."

I jumped as Dad suddenly turned around and looked straight at me. How long did he know I was there? Awkwardly, I straightened up and walked into the room, finally seeing the other angel's face. He looked young with brown hair and a cheeky grin, wearing a simple army jacket and jeans as he stood by the couch with his hands in his pockets.

"How long did you know?" I asked Dad.

"Since you got there. I can sense your grace even if it is clouded by the demon side."

"So that's what that was?" the other one butted in, nodding as he understood, "I thought I could sense another angel but it was as if the signal was weak. I can barely even feel it when you're stood right there."

"Elizabeth, this is Gabriel," Dad introduced the angel, "Gabriel, this is Elizabeth. Don't hurt each other."

"Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. Can I call you Beth?" Gabriel asked, kissing the back of my hand as Dad rolled his eyes.

"Uh, sure? If I can call you Gabe? Gabriel's a bit long..."

"Sure. I know, I can be a mouthful..." he winked before Balthazar slapped his shoulder.

"Hey, that's my daughter! Don't you go corrupting her!" his tone was filled with anger but he was smiling as Gabe and I burst out laughing.

"I like her, Balthy. I can help to protect her, if you want? An archangel's protection surely trumps everything that bunch in Heaven's got... at least until one of my big bros gets involved..." Gabe sighed and shook his head, "One of them's bound to..."

"Thank you, Gabriel. What can you do?" Dad asked sincerely. Gabe just smiled and clicked his fingers.

In seconds, I felt a slight weight around my neck and cold metal against my left ankle. Looking down, I found a silver necklace engraved with strange lettering around my neck and, upon further inspection, a similar anklet around my ankle. "What are they?"

"Dragon-forged silver. Poisonous to, and hides you from, just about all creatures except the wearer and archangels. Should protect you from just about everything on Earth, so be careful not to touch it," he directed the last instruction at Balthazar who nodded understandingly. I'd hate to injure my own Dad.

"Thanks, Gabe," I smiled, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug that he clearly wasn't expecting.

He hugged me back happily, not able to be hurt by the silver, "Any time, Beth. I've got to go now, though. Castiel wants to know if I've seen you - he can't break through the sigils you've put on the house like I can." He turns to me, seeing my worried expression, "Don't worry, I only got through because your Dad let me in. I won't tell anyone I saw you. See ya!"

And with that, he abruptly disappeared into thin air.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth starts to learn more about her powers.

After Gabriel left, I went back to my room to change as I was still wearing what I had worn the day before. On the way, the encounter with Gabe left me thinking...

"Dad?" I called, waiting for him to come through from the lounge, "Do I have any powers?"

He considered it, "Probably. I'll have to teach you how to harness them first, though, so you don't go accidentally blowing up the house..."

"Oh, okay..." I sighed, a hint of sadness ebbing into my voice.

"Hey," Dad said, hearing it and feeling bad, "I promise I will teach you, okay? I promise. It's just that I have no idea how powerful you are... Demons have completely different skills to angels and if you have both, well, that makes you a force I wouldn't want to come up against..." he holds my face in his hands, "You understand, right?"

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks, Dad," I smiled before hoping he'd get the hint to leave me to change. He didn't. "Uh, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm... getting changed?"

"Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed, going red, "Sorry, I'll, uh, go..." He pointed towards the door.

"You do that."

"I will. I, uh... bye." And he finally left.

I sighed in disbelief, shaking my head. Still laughing, I searched around for my backpack, finding it sat on the chair beside my bed but it was empty which worried me. Everything in there was extremely important to me, I couldn't lose it...

"Daaad!" I shouted frantically.

"Whaaat?" he called back, sounding close but not coming in in case I wasn't dressed.

"Where's my stuff?"

"Check your closet!" I did and immediately felt stupid as I found all my clothes neatly hung up and all my other belongings placed carefully on the shelves. "You found it?"

"Yeah, thanks Dad!" I pulled out a pair of black jeans and green t-shirt, tossing them onto the bed before finding some socks and underwear. Once I was changed, I took the old clothes and placed them in the wash basket beside the door, tempted to try and clean them mentally but I knew Dad wouldn't be impressed if it went horribly wrong.

"What are you up to?" I asked as I went into the kitchen, finding him searching through the cupboards for something. He seemed pretty agitated about it. "Lost something?"

"My angel blade." He continued to hunt around, knocking over pots and pans in the process. I looked around the room, guessing he meant the silver blade he had when Gabe came.

It wasn't anywhere in the kitchen and I was about to check again before I saw a glint from the corner of my eye of something on the edge of one of the couches. Leaving Dad rooting around in the kitchen, I walked over and found that I was right - it was his angel blade. "Hey, Dad!"

"Not now, I'm busy!"

"Sure, just thought you might like to know that I found it?" I chuckled as I heard him bump his head on the cupboard door, cursing in what I figured was Enochian. He appeared in the doorway as I twirled the blade in my hands before passing it to him and he safely pocketed it.

"What would I do without you?" he smiled, kissing my forehead gently and pulling me into a careful hug, avoiding skin contact with the necklace as he did so.

"Well, you'd be a blade down for one..." I laughed and he laughed along with me.

"That he would." We both looked around at the new voice, relaxing when we realised it was only Gabe. "I sent Castiel and the angel squad on a goose chase to Japan because someone told them you had fled to there..."

"Thank you, Gabe."

"No problem. It'll give you guys at least three more days to work out what you're gonna do while they search the entire country. Their source wasn't exactly accurate about your location," he grinned, flopping down on the couch.

"Uh, excuse me, archangel blades off the upholstery, thank you very much," Dad chided, making Gabriel put it on the coffee table.

"You remember I'm older than you, right?"

"That's never been proven," Dad scoffed, "Even if you are, it's only a matter of a few centuries..."

His jokes make me wonder; if angels live for millennia and more, how long will I live?

"We don't know, Beth," Gabriel said suddenly, answering the question I never asked, "What? I can read minds, so can Balthy - did he not tell you that?"

"No, he didn't. Have you been reading my thoughts this entire time?" I asked, turning to Dad and looking at him accusingly, actually angry. Who knows what he'd heard...

"I'm sor- whoa!" He suddenly looked up at my face and jumped back in shock. "Y-your eyes, darling..."

"What?" I asked, confused. Gabe conjured up a mirror in one hand and passed it to me, looking slightly less taken aback than Dad was. Looking at my reflection, I realised why...

My eyes were grey. Completely grey. "What the heck?!"

"Must be the angel mixing with the demon; dark and light making grey..."

"That's nice, Gabe, but how do I turn them back?" I demanded.

"Try calming down, love. Deep breaths. It usually only happens when a demon gets angry," Dad instructs. I did as he said, looking at the mirror the entire time so I could see when they changed back. Eventually they went back to brown and my pupils returned but I was still pretty shaken up by it - my eyes changed colour!

"Are you feeling okay?" Gabe looked over at me, considerably unworried by what had happened, "Yeah, I kind of expected it. While I was gone I borrowed a few books and researched what to expect from you. There isn't much history of your kind but there was one case, back in Roman times; sadly they perished before they were out of diapers. You're stronger for some reason... have you tried getting your wings out?"

"No, I'll try now if you want, but stop reading my thoughts!" He held his hands up in his own defence and I rolled my eyes. "How do I do this then?"

"Think of flying," Dad told me which was a bit vague but I tried and suddenly heard a burst of flames behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw two huge wings, as wide as the room but there was one thing that separated them from the rest - they were made entirely of bright red and yellow fire. "Whoa, whoa, put them away! Stop thinking of flying!"

Gabe was, again, unchanged by the wings as I folded them away, "Just as I thought."

"You didn't think to tell me that?" Dad asked him, bewildered and a little confused - as if he couldn't figure out why Gabe could see them - as he patted down a small cushion that had been set ablaze, "Didn't think to say 'oh yeah, by the way Balthy, your daughter's wings are going to burn the house down'?"

"It never came up," Gabriel defended, "It is proclaimed that the child of Darkness and Light will rise like a phoenix, hence the flames. I couldn't find anything else on the species, you don't even have an official name..."

"How about she names herself?" Dad offered, "Since she's the first of her kind to survive?"

Gabe hummed thoughtfully, "Go on then. I'm sure we can rewrite the books between us. What do you want to be called, Beth?"

"Uhhh..." I had no idea. "Name my species... Beth? Because I'm the only one? No point giving myself another name, is there?" I pointed out.

"Fair enough. Beth the Beth," Dad chuckled, ruffling my hair, "Since Gabriel's here we could start your training - I get the feeling I might need some help. Let's learn what else you're capable of..."


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth tries to learn how to control her powers but something goes wrong...

"What do you wanna try first, then?" Dad called across the banquet hall. They had cleared the entire room of furniture within seconds so now Dad stood in front of me and Gabe, who had nothing better to do except stay here and help, stood off to the side.

"Telekinesis." I'd always loved the idea of moving things with my mind.

"Okay. You have to be careful with this, we don't want to be attacking me or Gabriel with objects, alright?" I nodded and Dad conjured a small toothpick out of thin air.

Gabe somehow saw my disappointed expression despite being stood slightly behind me, "We've got to start small, Beth."

"Yeah, okay. How do we start?"

Dad stepped forward and placed the pick on the floor between us, "Concentrate on the object. Don't get frustrated with it. Then, ask it to move in the direction of your hand."

"Okay." Taking a few deep breaths, I stared at the pick on the ground and held out a hand, gently willing it to move to the left. I expected it to go but instead, there was a huge thump as Dad was thrown against the far wall and promptly disappeared.

Gabriel ran forward as I gasped in horror, holding me back, "What did I do? Where did I send him?"

"That wasn't you." Before I knew it, Gabe wrapped his arms around my shoulders and teleported us both out of the room, landing in the middle of an empty field. He immediately let me go and looked around as if deep in thought. "Where is he? Where is he? ...Dammit!"

"What? What is it?" I called after him as he ran off in the direction of the nearest road, "Gabe!"

"Castiel... He must have broken through the protection on the house just enough to summon Balthazar. He won't be happy if he knows I lied to him but I'll make some excuse up," he turns to me suddenly and grabs my shoulders, "If I disappear, don't worry. You're hidden from all creatures except me so you're safe if you stay here and wait for m-" And then he disappeared. Great.

"Damn!" I sighed to no one. I didn't even know where I was.

Pacing around for a few minutes, I waited for someone to appear in the field but no one did, not even a single car or truck passed by on the road behind me. Eventually, I gave up and sat down in the long grass, shivering slightly at the breeze on my bare arms and watching the sky darken as the minutes drew on and Gabe didn't appear.

I was about to give up hope when I heard wings again and looked up to find Gabriel looking around frantically. "Down here."

He locked eyes with me, holding a hand out to pull me up, "We need to go. Now."

I got the sickly feeling again as he transported us to some house in South Dakota, directly into the front room, making the three guys sat in it almost jump out of their skins. One was tall with longish hair, the second was a bit stockier and seemed angry to see Gabe, and the other one, sat behind a large desk, had a beard and a battered baseball cap.

"Gabriel?" the tallest of the three questioned, getting up from the kitchen table behind us where he seemed to be on his laptop.

"Hi guys..." Gabe breathed, regaining his balance since the abrupt transportation made us both dizzy. "You okay, Beth?" I nodded but my head was still spinning so it just made it worse.

"What the hell, Gabriel?" the other young guy asked, wide-eyed, "We thought you'd died!"

"Welp, I didn't. Hi!" Gabe looked around, frowning at the unimpressed faces he was met with, "Could you angel proof the house, Dean? It'd mean a lot and since I saved your lives that one time..."

Dean looked at him as if he was crazy, "Not until you explain what the hell is goi-"

"We don't have time, Dean! Angel proofing! Now!" Gabe yelled suddenly, making me jump. He glanced down at me apologetically, "You too, Sam. I need to talk with Bobby..."

Bobby seemed reluctant but he nodded for the other two to go and, once they were out of earshot, Gabe sat me down on one of the chairs before pacing over to stand in front of him. "I need information, Bobby. You have to promise not to tell your little friend Cas or that bastard Crowley, or Meg or anyone about this information, got it?"

"Yeah, okay?" Bobby raised an eyebrow, looking towards me, "You mind explainin' who the hell this is?"

"Bobby, this is Elizabeth, she's Balthazar's daughter-"

"Balthazar's daughter?" Bobby interrupted, bewildered.

"Yes, please don't make a habit of repeating everything I say," Gabriel said as Bobby pulled a face, making me snigger quietly, "She turned eighteen yesterday and the spell her dad placed on her wore off so now Castiel and the God Squad are after her along with who knows how many other demons and monsters..."

"Wh-"

"You may ask why, my dear Bobby. Her father is Balthazar, her mother, on the other hand, is a demon," Bobby took a sharp intake of breath, "Drunken one night stand, not his fault, yada yada yada... nine months later, baby Elizabeth is born, placed under a protection spell, it wears off, Balthazar saves her from dear old Cas and now he and I are working together to protect her... We need every piece of information on her species that you have."

Bobby took a moment to process the hoards of crazy information he'd just been presented with, "Er... I'll do my best. Between you and me, I'm not a big fan of Cas either..." He began rifling through the draws and bookshelves around him as Sam and Dean came back in.

"I think we're done," Sam said, sitting down on the couch and looking over at me with a puzzled expression as if I were some sort of wild animal.

"Nope." Gabe clicked his fingers and a specific sigil disappeared from one of the windows. "Now it's done."

"Hey! Won't they get in now you've done that?" Dean protested but Gabe shook his head.

"Only one will be able to."

"Cas?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Dean. The guy hates my guts and wants Beth here dead. I'm letting Balthazar in..."

"Balthazar?!" Sam and Dean both said at the same time.

"Jeez, not the repeating again. Yes, Balthazar. I felt it was only right since his daughter is here and he's also on Castiel's hit list," Gabe sighed.

"You're Balthazar's daughter?" Sam asked me, seeming to be the calmer of the two of them. At least he's able to put two and two together, perhaps there is some hope for humanity after all...

"Oh, I thought I'd become invisible as you all argued about my father!" I shouted angrily, annoyed by their cheek to talk crap about him in front of me. It must've flipped the switch in my brain that changed my eyes because everyone but Gabe jumped back in shock and fear, "My mother is a demon, my father is an angel. Get over it!"

"Uh, yeah, Sam..." Dean pushed his brother forward, "Listen to the scary grey-eyed girl..."

I flicked my eyes back to their usual colour, "Help Bobby research about my species. Don't you dare try to contact Castiel. Oh, and when my Dad arrives, don't try to kill him. Okay?"

"Uh, okay... Don't hurt us..." Gabriel turns to me and smirks as they skulk away to help and even Bobby seemed to smile over at me, glad to see them actually listening to someone for once.

"You're welcome here anytime, kid, especially if you can keep them two in line..." he nodded approvingly. I grinned before grabbing a book and helping in the effort as Gabe did the same. At least someone likes me here...


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobby finds some information.

Sam seemed to get more comfortable around me after about half an hour but Dean still jumped a foot every time I breathed, making Gabe laugh so hard he couldn't stand straight. Bobby liked me from the start so I was sat on his desk, legs swinging over the edge, reading through a huge book about demons. There didn't seem to be anything helpful in it but I kept searching regardless until we heard a crash in the kitchen, looking up to find Dad sprawled out on the floor.

Gabe and I were the first to reach him, me checking his pulse before helping Gabe carry him over to the couch. The sight of the cuts on his face and the bruises littering his skin filled me with anger but I held it back - there was no use getting angry when he was injured so badly. "How bad is it?"

"I reckon he only just made it here. If I hadn't told him where we were, who knows what could have happened to him... he's too weak to heal himself so I'll try my best," Gabe placed a hand on Balthazar's forehead and his body glowed as I turned to Sam and Dean.

"You see what your 'friend' has done?" I gestured towards Dad who was just about coming around as Gabe tried his best to heal him quickly.

"Castiel did this? He can't have done..." Dean said, disbelievingly, interrupted by Balthazar's groans.

"You... bet he did... the bastard..." he breathes, painfully, beginning to heal himself too.

"Son of a bitch..." Dean cursed and Dad laughed breathily, taking my hand in his as he opened his eyes.

"The house isn't safe anymore. I thought it was but Cas managed to summon me and figured out where you were being hidden," he turned to Gabe, "They also took all of the weapons back... I can't thank you enough for getting her out of there and for lying again for us..."

"She means as much to me as she does to you, Balt. I'd have been betraying everything I stand for if I'd left her there..."

"Dad, are you okay? Why did he hurt you so badly?" I asked, stroking the back of his hand with my thumb as the skin on his arms heals.

He tried to sit up but Gabe gently pushed him back down, signalling he wasn't done yet, "They wanted me to tell them where you'd gone. I refused and they beat me until I got away when their backs were turned," he turned again to Gabe, "They suspect that you lied to them because they can't find you now. Angel proofing?"

"Yeah. I thought they might turn on me next, Castiel has never trusted me, especially since I hid from him when he went on that godly rampage..." Gabe sighed, finally removing his hand from Balthazar's head, "Better?" Dad nodded in reply.

"That wasn't Cas who went on the rampage... it was the leviathan..." Dean tried to defend the other angel.

"Believe me, Dean," Gabe replied honestly, looking straight into his eyes, "There was more of Castiel in there than you thought... I could read his thoughts... he was... righteous, prideful, everything an angel shouldn't be. I'm an archangel and even I was scared of him, the leviathan only revealed his darker side..."

"Well," Bobby butted in, "this is a nice chat and all but I've found something..." We all turned our attention to him, "Oh, now you all remember me. Hi, I'm Bobby Singer, the crazy bastard that lets you all into his house on a daily basis for some darned reason..."

"Sorry Bobby," I apologised, going back to perch on the edge of his desk, "What is it?"

He pointed to a certain paragraph on the page the book has been opened to, under the heading 'Demon and Angel Reproduction', "It's quite unbelievable, really. Says here that the offspring of a demon and an angel would spontaneously combust at the point of conception and that if they did manage to survive until birth, they would perish within a week as the holiness of their blood would burn the demon characteristics and cause the child to explode..."

"So how is Elizabeth even alive?" Sam asked as I remembered he was still there.

Bobby shrugged, "Beats me."

"So by some freaking miracle, this kid hasn't exploded yet. How do we know there isn't still a chance?" Dean put in, apparently asking the same question Sam was going to ask next.

"Oh, don't worry," Dad replied, sitting up and looking at Dean who seemed unnerved by him for some reason, "She's promised not to blow up."

"Oh, well that makes everything fine and dandy, doesn't it? At least we have her word..." 

"I'm not going to explode, Dean. Besides, I'm fully grown now in both angel and demon standards, it's unlikely anything new is going to happen," I explained.

"Do you have wings?" Sam asked suddenly. Clearly, he asks all the important questions.

"Yes, she does. No, she can't show you," Dad butted in before I could reply. I looked at him in annoyance, "Honey, the majority of this place is made of wood... I'm not conjuring a fire extinguisher if you set it all ablaze with those bloody wings."

"Fire wings?" Bobby asked and I nodded, "I read something about that here... 'The child of Darkness and Light will rise like a phoenix and be reborn from the ashes of the apocalypse'-"

"Wait, what was that last bit? About the apocalypse?" I turned to see Gabriel looking distressed. It did sound different from what he'd said before.

"'and be reborn from the ashes of the apocalypse', why?"

"Damn."

"What is it, Gabe?" I asked as Dad read his thoughts and let out a reluctant groan, cursing under his breath in Enochian.

"It makes sense now... when the apocalypse comes, it will be a great war between Heaven and Hell. The only thing that could possibly stop it is a living child of both. It shows that they can live together in peace... About two millennia ago, Michael was intent on creating such a child but every attempt perished... That's why Heaven wants you so bad, why Castiel is hunting you down... they want to use you as a weapon, a bargaining chip, to stop the apocalypse in its tracks... it's why you mean so much to them alive - you're living proof of peace between us and the demons..." Gabe looked up at me sorrowfully.

"Could that even work?" I asked.

"No one knows, but they're willing to try anything nowadays... Heaven is corrupt... Half of them want the apocalypse, the others want you... you are what is left of Heaven's hope..." Gabe sighed, looking as though he pitied his brothers. Dad's expression was the complete opposite; he thought they were ridiculous and it clearly showed on his face.

He stamped his foot down, breaking us all from our thoughts, "I won't let them use you as a weapon, Elizabeth. Heaven can't have you, they only want you for the powers you can hardly harness yourself..."

"I agree. You're more than a weapon, you deserve an open life of happiness not the narrow life of a warrior. Believe me, I would know..." I nodded, knowing what Gabe went through in the last apocalypse from one of Bobby's books. I felt terrible for him - nothing can erase  that sort of past from your memory...

"I guess we're with you, too," Sam added and Dean smiled at me for the first time as Bobby nodded, "I just can't believe Cas could be like that..."

I sighed, "A lot of people are not as they seem..."

 


	8. Chapter 7

"So, now that we know what Heaven wants her for, what do we do to stop them getting her?" Sam asked, leaning back on his chair away from his laptop. He'd been very quiet ever since we'd arrived so I guess he was trying to redeem himself.

"Her protection is already sorted," Gabe clarified, crossing his ankles and wrapping an arms around my shoulders - much to Dad's disapproval, "She has that necklace, an anklet and the same carvings in her ribs as you two monkeys..."

"How can a necklace stop angels? Are they scared of jewellery?" Gabe and I both rolled our eyes at Dean's ridiculousness.

"Is he normally like this?"

"All the time... I usually block it out," Dad replied as Dean huffed indignantly in the corner, mumbling something about 'goddamn angels'.

Gabe coughed to hide a snigger, "Anyway, genius, it's made from dragon-forged silver. It's poisonous-"

"To all creatures," Bobby finished and Gabe nodded, "Shucks, Gabriel, where the hell did you find such a thing?"

"Uh, hello? Archangel?" Gabriel gestured to himself as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "So yeah, the necklace and anklet basically repel any monster or angel that's trying to find her."

"Why can't we have one of them? Why didn't you give us one when we needed hiding from Lucifer and Michael?"

"Because they don't shield you from archangels, idiot. How do you think I knew where she was?" Gabe rolls his eyes again at Dean. "They won't work against me, Lucifer, Raphael or Michael but since they're not involved yet, we don't need to worry about my big bros."

"So we need protection, then? Is that right?" Dad asked and Gabriel sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, since we're now public enemy number one and two. Not like we were Heaven's favourites anyway..." He grinned cheekily, pulling me closer, "Don't look like that, Beth. It's not your fault- shit!"

Gabe suddenly jumped up, pulling back the curtain to look outside before ducking out of sight, "Get away from the window! Balt, can you travel?" I got up quickly and rushed to stand at his side.

"Yeah, wh- oh damn..." Dad cursed, careful to stay away from all of the windows.

"What is it?"

"Castiel. He's outside..." Gabe turned to Dean, "We have to go. Don't tell him we were here. Make up some excuse about protecting the house from Balthy or something to get him off your case..."

"What if he doesn't believe us?" Sam asked but Dad just laughed shortly.

"He takes every word you lot say as gospel. If you told him the world was flat, he'd believe you..."

"Where are you gonna go?" Bobby questioned. Gabe and Dad both shrugged. "Well, I know a safe house. Protected by sigils and devil traps. You could go there."

"Thank you, Bobby," Dad said honestly, turning to where I was standing with Gabe, "I guess we can see how sigils and traps will affect you too."

Bobby opened his mouth to tell us where it was but Gabe raised a hand to stop him, "Already got it," he points to his temple, "Heard you think it. It's dangerous to say things out loud at times like this."

A knock on the door made me jump and both Dad and Gabe grabbed my hands. "Come on. Let's go. You better let the bastard in."

Sam and Dean nodded before spinning out of view as both the angels transported me away and I closed my eyes until I felt solid ground beneath my feet. In front of us stood a small cabin, set into the side of a cliff; when I blinked, I saw it was covered in sigils and markings but they disappeared when my eyes focused.

"He wasn't kidding when he said it was protected..." Dad looked across to Gabe, "Can you get us in?"

"I don't know. Can Beth?"

"Me?" I asked and he nodded.

"I've got a theory. Just walk in the house and scratch away that sigil over there that looks like a little hexagon with a moon inside it," he instructed.

"Why can't you do it? You did it back at Bobby's."

"I can only break them when I'm inside. You break that one, I get in, I break the rest of it, your Dad gets in. Then the sigils will make us invisible to the angels rather than blocking us two out. Okay?" Gabe clarified. I nodded and, cautiously, headed towards the house, careful to stay under the cover of the tree canopy despite the protection I had over me.

Once I reached the door, I lay my fingers on the handle, expecting some sort of burning or forcefield, but it turned and opened easily and so I stepped inside, hearing a cheer from behind me as I scratched away part of the symbol Gabe pointed out. In a second, he appeared beside me, making it disappear completely along with another one on the other window which I gathered was Dad's as he also appeared in the house.

He pushed the door closed as Gabe looked down at my feet, "Just as I thought." I looked down too, following his gaze and realising I had just walked through a pentagram painted on the floor in red paint. "Devil's trap."

"How?" I didn't know much about all these things but I'd guessed that demons weren't supposed to be able to walk through them.

"I figured as much. You seem to be too angelic to be affected by devil's traps and too demonic to be affected by the sigils..." he looked up at Balthazar, "I don't reckon there's anything that could trap her..." 

Dad's eyes widened, "No wonder Heaven wants her as a weapon. A weapon that literally can't be trapped or stopped..." he pulled me to his side, "You're more special than I thought, Elizabeth. There's no one like you in the world... no, the universe..."

I looked to Gabriel for affirmation and he nodded, "He's right. I mean, I'm old though I may not look it, and I've never heard of anything inhuman that can walk straight through both sigils and devil's traps..."

"Then, what do we do?" 

"Well, since it seems you've got yourself covered for protection, your Dad and I need to find some." I glanced around as Gabe said it, seeing all the books that lined the walls - the house must've belonged to hunters because they weren't your normal everyday books.

"Let's get researching, then?" I proposed, moving to pull up one of the chairs and grabbing a large book from the nearest shelf."

"Yeah," Gabe agreed, pulling up a chair beside me and grabbing another as Dad did the same on the couch behind us, "Let's just hope there is something..."


	9. Chapter 8

"Found anything?" I asked after about an hour. I was now sat on the couch, Gabe leaning his back against my shoulder with his legs stretched out away from me. Dad was perched on the kitchen table, a huge book he found in the basement spread across his lap.

"Just one," Dad called over, still reading it through with intense curiosity, "Archangels can shield themselves and up to ten others from all spells and summons but there's a catch that you may not like, Gabriel..."

"What is it?" he turned away from me to look at him.

"It's a similar to the rib carvings but it's very complex. There's a lot more to it... and, well, the carvings have to be engraved on the soul..." Dad explained and Gabe pulled an annoyed face, "It sounds terribly painful for both of us but it's the only one I could find..."

"What does it need? What ingredients?" 

"Uh... blood from all involved, a shark tooth, dried dragon hide and some Alkahest... I have no idea how we're gonna get all tha- ...Gabriel?" we both looked up, puzzled, as he disappeared, "Gabriel?"

"Where did he go?" Balthazar shrugged.

"Oops, sorry about that," Gabe suddenly appeared again in the centre of the room with what looked like sand in his hair, "Went shopping... to Nepal. They still have Alkahest, they just haven't found it yet. And, I broke into Bobby's storeroom to grab the dragon hide and tooth, he probably won't notice..." He set down the plastic bag he was carrying on the table before fishing out something else, "Oh yeah, and I nipped to Target and got some Skittles because... Skittles."

He left Dad to sort out the ritual, coming back to the couch and sitting beside me, his feet curled under him like a child. "Want one?" he offered me the already half empty packet and I gladly took a few.

"Come here, you've got sand all in your hair..." I pointed out, my voice muffled from the candy. He tried to duck away from my hands but I was quicker, ruffling his hair to dislodge all the sand nesting in it as he swatted me away, almost dropping his candy in the process.

"No- get off of me! Nooo! Balt, help me!" he protested but Dad just chuckled unsympathetically, "After all I've done for you!"

"Oh, come on, Gabe. Stop being such a child; you keep pointing out that your older than my Dad..."

"Darling, age doesn't equal maturity where Gabriel is concerned," Dad sighed, not even looking up as Gabe winked at me, "Thank you for proving my point there, Gabriel."

Gabe pouted and I couldn't resist going to poke his bottom lip. Unfortunately, he realised what I was planning and snapped at the last second, clamping my finger in his mouth and smirking at me. "Hey, that hurts. Let go."

"Nuh uh," Gabe mumbled through his teeth before saying something inaudible.

"What was that?" I asked in confusion. He rolled his eyes and tapped his cheek, signalling for me to kiss him.

I rolled my eyes and sighed at his antics, "Fine..." I leaned in towards his cheek but this time he was quicker, letting go of my finger and turning at the last moment to catch my lips with his own. I tried to pull away but he held the back of my head as warmth spread from his lips to mine and all I could taste was the sweetness of the Skittles which captivated me and kept me wanting more.

Eventually, my Dad must have looked up because Gabe was thrown back against the far wall, hard enough to make him groan in pain. He slid down to the ground as I turned to see my Dad, red with anger, glaring at him furiously, "Can you honestly not be a dick for just five minutes whilst I'm trying to save our bloody lives?!"

"S-sorry..." Gabe gasped, the force of the blow having completely winded him, "I-I don't know w-what came over me... S-she's your daughter, I g-get it. F-forgive me..."

I looked back over at my father, pleading silently with him not to hurt Gabe any more. He seemed to hear me as he glanced at me wearily, "Fine! Just... come and help me with this. Elizabeth, can you help him up?"

I nodded and went over to where he was still sprawled against the wall, carefully helping him up as he looked at me with curiosity the entire time. Just as I was about to let him stand on his own, he gently grabbed my shoulder and pulled me down to hear him whisper, "You... kissed back...?" There was a hint of confusion in his voice and it was reflected in his eyes as he looked back at me before heading over to where my Dad was preparing everything they needed.

"I think that's it," Dad suddenly announced, tearing me away from the thoughts of what had just happened.

"What do I have to do?" Gabe asked, careful to avoid my gaze as he read through the ritual, "My blood?" Dad nodded and handed him a knife, watching as his sliced into his palm and let it drip over the other ingredients before doing the same himself with a separate knife. "Now what?"

"It says to place your hand into the bowl and then do as you would to carve ribs with the substance on your hand," Dad explained before stretching the neck of his t-shirt over his shoulder to bare the top of his chest as Gabe did as he said, flinching slightly at the texture of the concoction as it covered his skin.

Cautiously, he placed it against Balthazar's skin, making Dad cry out in sudden agony. I jumped up to go to him but Gabe held his other hand out to stop me before screaming himself, his face contorting in pain. He let go of Dad, not able to hold on any longer as he fell to his knees but he still refused my help while Dad held himself up against the table. I felt helpless, watching them in pain, but I didn't want to interfere for fear of sabotaging the entire thing.

Finally, after more minutes of agony, the pain seemed to slow down in both of them and, as Dad made his way to sit down on the chair behind him, Gabe thankfully let me help him, "Beth..." he gasped.

I rushed forward and helped him up, holding him tightly to ensure he remained standing before guiding him over to the couch and laying him down on it. "Did it work?" I knelt down beside him as he nodded, his eyes closed in exhaustion. It seemed to have drained all of his energy but, with some rest, he could probably recover fully. "Get some rest," I instructed, turning to go to my Dad but he caught my wrist before I went, pulling me back and leaning up to kiss my cheek.

"Alright," he smiled, closing his eyes as my face turned red, "Go and check on your Dad..."


	10. Chapter 9

Both of them slept straight through the rest of the day and the night, secure in the knowledge that they were hidden from the 'God Squad' as Gabe had put it. I sat alone in the other room, considering everything that had happened in the past two days while they rested - learning about my real family; the angels coming after us; meeting the guys in Dakota; Gabriel...

No matter what I thought of, it always seemed to circle back to him. I was still unsure on how I felt about the situation, he was a flirt like my Dad had said so how was I supposed to know what was genuine to him and what was just him playing about? The look in his eyes after Dad threw him across the room looked pretty genuine but I don't know if I can trust him...

Then there was the kiss.

I'll admit, I definitely felt something as his lips touched mine. It wasn't the cliché fireworks moment but it was a significant sensation which sent warmth through my body, as if he was healing me with his lips.

As I sat, pondering, I heard shuffling from the other room. Checking the clock on the wall, I saw that it was just past three am.

"Beth?" Gabe's voice whispered through the room. I considered staying quiet but I figured we needed to talk.

"In here." He appeared in the doorway, his face lighting up slightly as he saw me. "How come you're awake before my Dad?"

He sighed, "The ritual took more energy from me but I can heal quicker than he can. He'll probably still be out cold for a few hours. Why aren't you asleep?"

"I'm not used to it so I can function without it." He nodded and I guessed Dad had told him about what my mother had done.

"Er... how are you?" I attempted to make conversation but he shook his head.

"Let's not do this, skipping over what happened thing, okay?" I nodded reluctantly, looking down at my hands in my lap. "I think we need to talk..."

"I agree," I whispered, not really wanting to but I knew it had to happen.

"I kissed you," he said bluntly, looking directly at me.

"Yes, you did."

"And... I'm almost certain... you kissed back...?" he muttered, slightly less confident.

"...yes." Gabe's head snapped up as I choked out the word. "Yes, Gabe... I did..."

"Y-you did? Why?" he asked, posing perhaps the most difficult question to answer.

I stuttered, trying to come up with a reason, "I... don't know. It just felt... right?" He looked disheartened by my choice of words, "Don't look like that. I really like you, Gabe..." I crossed the gap between us and reached for his hand, gently squeezing his fingers to show I meant it.

"I like you, too," he replied hoarsely, "I feel like I've known you forever after everything we went through yesterday..."

"Shut up, Gabe," I breathed, abruptly closing the space between us and pressing my lips softly to his as he stepped backwards in shock. He got over it quickly and began kissing me back, reaching up and tangling his hand in my hair before flipping us round and pushing me gently against the wall behind him.

My pulse was racing and I knew he could sense it as he deepened the kiss, moaning quietly against my lips and breathing hard as he eventually pulled away to rest his forehead against mine. He flinched slightly as I opened my eyes, "I'm gonna have to get used to that... Apparently, they turn grey when you're excited, too..."

"Oh," I giggled breathily, trying my best to calm down but I couldn't when he was so close to me, "Uh, I can't turn them off..."

"Don't worry, it's cool anyway..." Gabe moved back slightly, checking that my Dad hadn't stirred. I don't think he enjoyed being thrown against a wall... "What are we going to do about him?"

I shook my head, "I don't know. He's gonna kill you if he finds out..."

"Let's just see how this works out first, okay? I don't know about you, but I," he pecked my lips, "rather," he pecked them again, "enjoyed," and again, "that." He smirked before pulling me into a final, deeper kiss, pulling away again after a minute or two.

"Stop it..." I blushed as he pulled away, chuckling at the sight of my red face in the dim, flickering candlelight. Suddenly, he was silenced by a groan coming from the main room as it sounded like Dad was waking up.

"Elizabeth?" he called out into the darkness which scarily reminded me of my old room.

I shushed Gabriel, "Yeah, we're in here, Dad. We didn't want to wake you with the light." I heard shuffling and then Balthazar appeared in the doorway, looking slightly worse for wear after the ritual.

"I'm guessing it worked then?" he asked, looking to Gabe who still looked slightly flustered but Dad didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, that lot can't find us now," Gabe replied, pointing upwards to indicate Heaven, "we should probably stay here though, while it's safe."

"Yeah. How are you guys then?"

"We're fine," I rushed before realising how suspicious I sounded, "We were just thinking about what to do next." It wasn't a complete lie...

"I figured we could try contacting Sam or Dean. I know you don't really like them, Gabriel, but they are our only allies in this..." he argued as Gabriel made an unflattering sound. I slapped his arm as Dad turned to go back, "Oh and, by the way, I heard every single word..."

I looked up at Gabe as both of our eyes went wide, "What? Every single word of what?" he tried to cover up.

"Don't even try, Gabriel," Dad turned on his heel, "As you have failed to noticed, I am not angry."

"Y-you're not?" I asked, not sure if I'd heard him right.

"No, I'm not," he turned to Gabe, "If it were anyone else, I would be, but I know you, Gabriel. We've always had each other's backs, have we not? So I have full assurance that you will not harm her in any way... Besides, in all our years, I've never seen you fall for someone so hard or so quickly, I can tell you really do care for Elizabeth. Protect her with your life."

"I will, Balthy. I promise," Gabe said, greatly relieved as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders. He took my hand in his and looked between Dad and I, "Thank you."


	11. Chapter 10

"How can we contact them, then?" Gabriel held me close to him as the sun began to rise outside the sigil-covered window. 

Dad considered it. "Telepathy?"

"Too risky, I'd think. Cas and the God Squad might sense it," I sniggered at Gabe's ridiculous nickname for them, "What?" he grinned, "I reckon they should start a band with that name. Castiel could do the vocals with his dulset, boring tone... They'd be a hit!"

"Oh yeah, I'd buy all his albums," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Well, how about calling them normally? There must be a landline somewhere in this place," Dad trailed off, getting up to go look.

"There's one on the wall in the other room, if I remember rightly..." I called after him.

"It's a good job that I know at least one of Bobby's numbers," he hummed, returning with the phone in his hand and punching in the first one he probably thought of. It rang for a few seconds before we heard someone pick up.

"Hello?" Bobby's voice radiated from the speaker as Dad handed the phone to me, mouthing 'he likes you more than me'. I rolled my eyes at him and he stuck his tongue out.

"Hey, Bobby? Are you alone?"

"What? Who is this?"

I couldn't help sighing. "Elizabeth," I told him through gritted teeth, hearing an 'oh' from the other end, "Now, are you alone? If you're not, try and make an excuse for me, would you?"

"Oh, hey Jody!" he suddenly said, though I had no idea who Jody was. His voice went muffled so I guessed he covered the receiver with his hand, "Don't worry, Sam. It's just Sheriff Mills. She's got a case. I'll go talk to her in the basement..." I heard footsteps and then a heavy door closing, "Beth, Cas is upstairs so make it quick."

"Okay. We made it to the house fine and the guys found a thingy to hide them which seems to have worked. We're gonna stay here a while, if that's okay, but I kinda need another favour...?"

"Yeah, that's fine. No one uses that place anymore. What's the favour?" he asked gruffly but there was a kindness in his voice.

"If you have time when Castiel is out of the house can you try and research a bit more into my species?" I asked and he made an unsure sound, "Bobby, I can walk straight through devil's traps. And angel protection sigils don't affect me."

"What? I've never heard of anything like that..."

"Neither have Gabriel or Balthazar. This is getting serious, please Bobby? If he won't leave, make up a case and send him with Sam and Dean," I pleaded.

"Yeah, okay. I'll try my best. Tell your Dad that he was right, Cas believed the bull crap story we fed him but he's still suspicious of Gabriel so watch your backs," he advised, clearing his throat as a door opened in the background, "So yeah, you just stab it seven times in the chest with a silver knife and it should be dead. Then, salt and burn it."

"Thank you, Bobby," I said sincerely, guessing Castiel was probably listening to what he was saying now.

"No problem. You can call me anytime, Jodie..." he sighed and then hung up. Dad and Gabe both looked at me expectantly as I went to put the phone back on the hook.

I came back and sat beside Gabe before he pulled me onto his lap, "He's on it. We can stay here for as long as we need and Castiel is off your case slightly but he's still suspicious," I told them, looking over my shoulder at Gabe, "I wouldn't go showing your face just yet."

"Wasn't planning on it... I don't like fried wings as much as the next angel..."

"Was Cas there at the time?" Dad asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, Bobby went to the basement and pretended I was someone called... Jody Mills? Ring any bells with either of you?" Gabe shook his head but Dad looked like he was thinking back.

"Sheriff?" I nodded, "Yeah, I've met her before. She's a friend of the guys', helps them cover up any legal problems they run into... Hmm, now that you mention her, she might be willing to help us..."

"Do you even know where she is?" I pointed out and he just shrugged.

"Darling, I'm an angel. I'll find her in no time. Stay here with Gabriel." And with that he flew off, leaving me with my mouth hung open, mid-thought. 

"You'll catch flies," Gabe smirked beside me, kissing me, "or angels..."

"Take the pizza back, there's way too much cheese..." I joked, punching his chest lightly as he held me closer. "Ah, Gabe... Can't... Breathe..."

"Oops, sorry," he laughed, "Here, have some more oxygen." Before I could protest, he pulled me down into another kiss, invading my mouth immediately with his tongue and making me moan as he clutched my waist.

"Back n- whoa! PDA! My eyes!" Dad's voice cried behind me and I looked back to see him covering his face while a woman with short brown hair cracked up in kind laughter beside him. "Has it stopped? Am I safe?

"Dad!" I whined, slapping him gently on the arm to make him stop before turning to the lady, "I hope he was polite before abducting you..."

"Hey! I didn't abduct her. She came willingly..." Dad protested and I shook my head disbelievingly but she nodded. "You have such limited faith in me, Elizabeth..."

"Wow, that's a change for him," I raised an eyebrow at the woman, "You must be Jody. Has my Dad explained the situation to you?"

"Vaguely," she replied, taking the seat I offered her, "I'm guessing you're Elizabeth, the half angel, half demon?" I nodded, noticing her gulp nervously, "I'm not exactly big on all this stuff but I'll help however I can. What do you need?"

"Are you busy at the moment?" She shook her head. "We could do with some inside information from Bobby's house but if any of them started asking questions, Castiel would get suspicious. I figured he wouldn't suspect you of helping us..."

"Okay. What is it that you want to know?"

I smiled, surprised at how kind she was being about all of this, "We need to know what Castiel plans to do with me once he finds me. If you could find out, that would be super helpful because at the moment we have no idea..."

"I can't guarantee results but I'll try. I guess you'll be taking me back now so that I can head over there?" she looked to Dad and he nodded, taking her arm, "Hopefully, I can bring back some news."

"Thanks, Jody. It means a lot." Then, they disappeared again as Gabe folded his forearms across me, "I hope she can find out something..."

He rested his chin on my shoulder, "I hope so, too..."


	12. Chapter 11

Dad returned quicker that time, probably trying not to have a repeat of before. "I dropped her back at her house so she's going to drive over to Bobby's in her squad car..."

I pouted as he said it and Gabe looked at me questioningly. "I want a squad car..."

"What do you want a car for? We're gonna teach you to fly soon, right?" he glanced at Dad who nodded in agreement, "See? As soon as we find somewhere safe to practice, we'll train you."

"You said that about telekinesis... you never finished teaching me that..."

"When it's safe, Elizabeth... You have to understand that it would be like waving a giant red flag if we went outside..." Dad tried to explain as I huffed angrily.

"How am I supposed to defend myself if I can't even use my powers?!" I shouted in annoyance, unintentionally sending a large book flying towards his head. He ducked at the last moment, sending it crashing into the wall behind him and making the plaster crack. Both he and Gabe looked at me in a mix of bewilderment and fear, "I, uh... I don't know how..."

My mind was in a panic so I did the only thing that seemed logical at the time - I got up and ran, darting out of the door and running out into the forest. I had no idea where I was going - I was scared - and I could hear Gabe and Dad calling frantically after me as I picked up speed through the trees. I didn't want them to find me; at least, not just yet.

I ran as far as a large clearing, finding a tree with a large bough that protruded from it about ten feet from the ground. Cautiously and carefully, I climbed the trunk and perched on the bough, which turned out to be thinner than I'd realised but I got comfortable nonetheless, sighing and shaking in shock. 

I made a book move... a book - an actual, huge book... and I threw it at my Dad of all people...

Laying my head back against the trunk, I blew out a shaky breath, burying my face in my hands. What had I done?

"You okay?" a sudden voice above me said, almost knocking me completely out of the tree, "Whoa, calm down..."

I looked up to find Gabriel sat on the branch above my head, "How did you find me?"

"Your grace," he explained, floating down to sit beside me, "It glows when your scared so that any other angel can come to help..."

"Oh," I sighed, letting him pull me into his chest as tears pricked in my eyes, "I-I'm sorry... Is my Dad angry?"

"No." He seemed unusually calm considering what I'd done. "Of course I'm calm, I was the same during my training. I didn't see the point in waiting."

"What did I tell you about reading my thoughts?" I laughed through the tears, swinging my legs in the breeze, "What did you do in the end, then?"

Gabe ran his fingers through my hair, calming me down, "I ran away... I guess we're more alike than we realised..." 

"How did you learn then? Without guidance?" 

"Taught myself," he smiled as I looked up, puzzled as to how that was even possible, "I can teach you, too. If your Dad will let me - I figure one tutor is easier than two, especially if you're a bit shaken up by your abilities?"

"I think that would help... thanks, Gabe." I'd calmed down considerably as he kissed my head through my hair before leaning down and kissing my lips softly.

"You think we should head back now? Your Dad will be worried about you." I nodded as a weird feeling flared up in my gut and I realised it was a sense of belonging... I just wasn't used to people caring about me. "Okay, let's go..."

Gabe helped me down from the tree and we landed with a crunch in a stretch of snow I hadn't realised was there, "Huh?"

"That was you, I reckon. Strong emotions from a creature as strong as you are could cause a lot of crazy weather, so I'd be careful," he said matter-of-factly, taking my hand in his as we began the walk back. We could have ran but it was a lot more peaceful to walk and as I cooled down, the air warmed up. "Your Dad and I weren't kidding when we said you needed to harness your powers - in the wrong hands, you probably have the capacity of about two hundred nuclear bomb..."

"Oh, okay... I'll train, I promise. In the meantime, I'll try to stay calm."

"Good, we'll both be thankful for that," Gabe replied as the house came into view, a worried Balthazar pacing back and forth in front of the door, "Hey! Balt!"

Dad's head shot up and he turned, locking eyes with me before flashing over and taking me into his arms tightly, resting his cheek on the top of my head, "Don't ever do that again... I thought you were gone... I thought they'd got you... I thought-"

"I think your mind is running wild, Dad," I smiled apologetically, wrapping my arms around his neck and pecking his cheek, "I'm okay... Gabe calmed me down..."

"Thank you, Gabriel. Again," Dad chuckled and Gabe nodded, "Come on, let's get out of the open air before someone finds us..." He led us back inside, shutting the door and bolting it this time, probably more for my sake than any angels.

"I'm sorry, Dad..." I muttered and he pulled me into his side, "I didn't mean to..."

"I know... I think every angel was like that in the beginning. I'm guessing Gabriel told you that he acted exactly the same?"

"You were even worse if I remember rightly..." Gabe chuckled as Dad smirked, "Caused chaos in Heaven for about three years..."

"You all loved it really," Dad grinned cheekily, looking remarkably similar to Gabe.

"Oh, sure. Running after you all that time was totally the only important thing we needed to do at that time..."

"Guys, guys... cool it!" The ground had begun to shake as I said it. They both turned and looked at me before looking down guiltily.

"Sorry..." they said in unison.

"You should be-" I was about to laugh when they disappeared and were suddenly replaced by a man in a trenchcoat with a backwards tie, "What?! Who-?"

"Hello, abomination," he said in a gravely voice as I realised we were stood in a basement. A basement I guessed was Bobby's by the amount of guns and equipment lining the walls...


	13. Chapter 12

"What? How?" I spluttered, looking down and finding a devil's trap at my feet - I decided to play along with the idea that I was trapped.

A door at the top of the stairs opened and Dean stood in the light, looking down at the guy in front of me before seeing that I was there, his eyes going wide. So he didn't betray me... We exchange a look of bewilderment, "Cas, who's this?"

The guy who I now knew to be Castiel glanced up at him before focusing his attention on me, "She is the child I was looking for." He held up a lock of hair that I recognised as my own as I cursed myself mentally for leaving it lying around, "This was in Balthazar's home. It is mere luck that it belonged to her."

Dean came down the stairs hastily as Jody appeared behind him, also looking at me in shock, "Okay..."

"What do you want with me?" I demanded, hoping that Dad and Gabriel could find me somehow, "I won't be used as a weapon!"

"Calm down," Castiel instructed but there was a fat chance that was ever happening. My shout had formed an audience at the top of the stairs, both Sam and Bobby looking between us in confusion. "I do not wish to use you as a weapon... I... fear my actions have been misinterpreted... You tried to hide from me..."

"Yeah, 'cause you want to use me..." I pointed out but he shook his head, looking hurt by the accusation.

"Care to explain, Cas?"

Castiel looked round as Dean addressed him, "They have misunderstood me, Dean. It is true that the angels wish to use her but I do not share their views. You yourself taught me that free will is the right way..." He turned to me, "Unless you wish to help them in the apocalypse, I will not force you..."

"You won't?" He nodded. "But... the prophecy...?"

"They can always change. The Winchester's have proven that on more than a few occasions..." he pointed out as Sam came down the stairs to join his brother beside Jody, "I am sorry for what the other angels did to your father. I fear he also misunderstood - he feared I wanted to harm you but you intrigue me. I only wished to meet you..."

"How come the necklace didn't work? Or the carvings on my ribs?"

"Ah, yes. The additions Gabriel gave you," I was shocked that he knew about Gabe but he continued, "He counted on no one having anything that belonged to you to summon you with. I guess he didn't know about your collection?" I shook my head. "He seems to be hidden from me. As does Balthazar." He turned to Dean and Sam, "I also know that you were prepared to go against me..."

"Cas... you have to understand how it looked to us..." Dean covered, "You were working with the God Squad again... we thought you'd tortured Balthazar..."

"I know. I realise that I should have explained to you... I thought the only way to find out more about this child was to act as one of them, getting information from the other angels... I know that devil's traps do not affect you so you can step out of it now," he addressed me, "Bobby shouldn't have speakerphone on if he does not wish me to overhear..." At the top of the stairs, Bobby huffed as I walked straight out of the trap and Dean looked at me in surprise.

"The hell?! Why didn't you tell us that, Elizabeth?" he asked.

"I didn't know until after I'd left..."

"Anyway," Castiel butted in, seemingly unaware of his own obnoxiousness, "I wish to speak with your father and Gabriel. Do you think it is possible that you could take me back there?" I shook my head uncertainly, "Just close your eyes and think of the surroundings as I guess I will not be able to enter the house."

Apprehensively, I did as he instructed, picturing the trees with their green canopies along with the rugged cliff side and the small cabin emerging from the face of it. The next second, I opened my eyes and we were there, Gabe stood before me in shock. He pulled me into a hug immediately before seeing Cas and pulling me back, "You!"

"Hello, Gabriel," Castiel replied placidly as Dad came out of the house, eyes widening as he rushed towards me and pulled me further away from Cas. I was feeling more and more like a ragdoll by the second...

"You get away from her!" he yelled angrily but I placed my hands on his chest, forcing him to look at me.

"Dad! He's not here to hurt me! We all misunderstood..." I pleaded with him to understand. He looked down at me in confusion but Gabriel suddenly pulled out his angel blade and lunged forward, "Gabe! No!" I stepped in between the blade and Cas, bringing Gabe to an immediate halt as his face softened, "Hear him out. Please... for me?" He lowered his arm.

"Thank you, Elizabeth," Castiel stepped around me as I held Gabe's hand, squeezing it to calm him down, "Gabriel. Balthazar. I don't wish to harm any of you, especially not Elizabeth here." Dad opens his mouth to say something but Cas stops him, "No, I don't want to use her as a weapon. I wish to help you to protect her - I know what she is and what she can do and, if she doesn't want to be a weapon, she doesn't have to go with the other angels..."

"Somehow, I'm having a hard time believing this..." Dad said sarcastically, staying close to me as Gabe folded his hands over my own, "Hmm, maybe because your little army of angels tried to kill me!"

Cas winced uncomfortably as he brought it up, "That was a mistake. I take full liability for that... believe me, I had no idea how far they would take it... I merely wished to know where the child was..."

Gabe was still looking at him with distrust clear in his eyes. I leaned into his side, causing him to wrap his arm around me and look down. "I trust him, Gabe. It makes sense..."

He sighed, holding me close, "Okay... I believe you, Cas. I know what a horrid liar you are, anyway." He looked up at Dad who narrowed his eyes at Cas. "For Beth?"

Dad caught my eye and blew out a strenuous and reluctant sigh, "Alright..." He turned to Cas, "If you make any move against her, there'll be a blade in your chest before you can even yell..."

"Make that two," Gabe says, squeezing me protectively. Cas gulps before nodding.

"I understand your concern for her welfare but I assure you she will come to no harm..."

"You better make sure of it," Dad warned, taking my other hand since Gabe was occupying my right one, "Now, let's get inside. I don't fancy any other angels crashing this party..."


	14. Chapter 13

"This is a strange choice of dwelling..." Castiel looked around the cabin, "especially for angels and an abomination..."

Dad huffed angrily, "Will people stop calling her that?" To be honest, I was getting annoyed with it too but I'd promised not to get angry so I stayed quiet.

"It was the safest place for Elizabeth since we thought you were hunting her down," Gabe ignored Dad and folded his hands around my waist.

"Well, it is... cosy?" Cas offered, raising an eyebrow before sitting down by the table. He looked down at the wooden floor, staring at a red stain, "Is that...? Your blood, Gabriel?"

Gabe peered at it, "Yeah, probably." I laughed as Castiel's eyes widened and I could almost see all the possible situations that were running through his mind. Gabe noticed too, "Yeah, we were sacrificing puppies to Lucifer in our spare time and I must've got caught with the all-mighty sacrificial blade..." I had to bury my face in his shirt to stop laughing horrendously at the horrified look on Cas' face.

"Is this true? Why does our brother want dead puppies?" he asked Dad who was also smirking as Gabe lifted his arm so that it was around my shoulders.

Dad shook his head, "No, Cas. He's kidding."

"I do not understand," Cas still looked puzzled and I sort of felt sorry for him. 

I looked up at Gabe's face, fascinated as to how he wasn't cracking up but the twinkle in his golden eyes said he was laughing hysterically on the inside. "Cas, they did a ritual to shield themselves from the other angels. It involved both of their bloods so some must have spilled on the floor. No Satanic puppies were involved..."

"Okay." He still didn't sound sure but he looked slightly less terrified. "So that is why I could not find either of you?"

"Yes, that will be why," Dad clarified since Castiel seemed to be a bit slow on the uptake. "We apologise if that offended you," he said as Gabe whispered 'no, we're not' in my ear, making me suppress another laugh.

Unfortunately for me, Gabe seemed to be in a playful mood and, as I was sat in his lap, I was his next target. He began by tickling my sides, discreetly and out of sight of Dad and Cas as they talked about everything that had happened, before sliding his hands down past my hips and placing them on my ass while I tried my best to keep a straight face.

It got worse as they continued talking, oblivious to the torture that Gabe was enforcing on me as he started to nibble at my left earlobe, all the while keeping a firm grasp on my ass. Slowly, he moved from my ear to the base of my neck, biting at the skin and no doubt scattering love bites across my collar bone as I fought back a moan, edging further into him, but every time I moved closer he tilted his head further back, leaving me wanting.

Unexpectedly, he squeezed my ass, making me squeak. Dad looked over and suddenly Gabe went back to normal but as soon as he turned away again, his hands were back, roaming all over my body. 

"Stop it," I hissed but he ignored me, pulling the strap of my bra in his teeth and moving it to the side before leaving tiny kisses all over my shoulder, making me shiver at the delicate touch of his lips. "Please... stop..."

"Never," he muttered into my neck as his fingers fiddled with the hem of my t-shirt before slipping underneath the fabric and venturing up my sides. His hands were unusually cold which made me jump, holding back a squeal this time so that my Dad didn't see what was happening. If Dad knew what was going on at that moment, Gabe's head would be mounted on the wall above the fireplace for sure.

"Gabe-" My breath hitched as his hands moved higher. I tried to move away from him and go to the other side of the couch but he held me back, his grip too strong for me to pull away as his fingertips shadowed over my skin. I looked up and he jumped slightly as I think my eyes had gone grey again, "Please... you told me to stay calm... this isn't helping..."

He sighed in annoyance before retracting his hands and pouting against my neck, "You're no fun..."

"I know," I whispered as he let me move away from his lap.

"This isn't over... be warned..." he replied slyly, pinching my side hard but not hard enough to leave any marks.

"What are you two whispering about?" Dad called over, causing both of our heads to snap up.

"Uh, nothing?" He narrowed his eyes at my terrible excuse but seemed to let us off.

"Okay... well, anyway, Cas has got an idea of how to get away from both the angels and the demons along with everything else in between."

"There is a bunker. Built by the Men of Letters. Anything that is not human cannot get in without the key and there is only one key in existence..." Cas explained monotonously. Nothing much excites this guy...

"And where is it?" Gabe asked, "I've never heard of this bunker."

"It can't be found by any creature but Sam and Dean are on the verge of getting the key. They will require assistance."

"So, you're gonna go and help, then?" I asked but Castiel shook his head.

"No. You are."

"What?" Dad and I said simultaneously, looking at Cas with the same confused expression on our faces. Why me? Why couldn't Cas go?

"I am of no use to them if I cannot lead them to it. Besides, if the other angels see me with them, they too will know the location of the bunker. I need to return to them and spread a falsification of your whereabouts as they will believe me more than anyone," he replied bluntly.

"So you're a double agent now?"

He looked at me, puzzled, "I do not understand."

"Forget it, Cas," I sighed, "Why do you think I can help?"

"Well, apart from the wings and the powers that Balthazar has just informed me of, you seem to respond to protective spells and sigils as a human would, meaning that if the angels do look at you with Sam and Dean they will just see three humans. They don't know what your vessel looks like..."

"Whoa, hold up! Vessel?" I asked confused, looking up a Gabe who appeared to have known something about that, "What vessel?"

"Uh," he struggled, glancing at Dad who shook his head, refusing to help him, "well, this... body," he gestured to me, "isn't your true form... Your Dad and I were going to explain earlier but you got angry and we didn't want a repeat of that..."

"Wait, what do you mean it's not my true form? I was born like this..." Dad was shaking his head and my eyes widened in confusion, "I wasn't...?"

"No... I should've told you, I'm sorry..." he said apologetically, getting up and coming to crouch in front of me, balancing on the balls of his feet, "When you were left with me, to help you blend in, I visited the nearest children's hospital... your 'temporary' parents had just brought a little girl into the world, a little girl that was destined to die, so I did the decent thing... When the doctor was telling them that she wasn't going to make it, I slipped in and allowed you to take her form... they said it was a miracle when you woke up, but their real daughter was dead... I guess they know the feeling now..."

He looked up into my eyes guiltily as Gabe shifted his body to gauge my reaction. "Oh... I guess that makes sense... I don't know what I expected." I tilted my head at dad, "What do I really look like, then?"

The corners of his lips angled upwards as Gabe seemed just as intrigued as I was, "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... part of me thinks that was the reason I saved you... I was proud to have you as my daughter... I still am..."

"D'aww, Dad..." I crooned, laughing as he pulled a face.

"It's true. I'm serious!" he protested.

"Seriously cheesy, more like..."


	15. Chapter 14

At the time of writing this, I have only just started watching Season 8 so any information about the bunker and Henry Winchester is from wikia and the transcript of 'As Time Goes By'.

Edit - most of it is correct.

SEASON 8 SPOILERS

"Run that by me again, Cas," Dean requested as we stood in Bobby's kitchen. Dad and Gabe had - very reluctantly - stayed back at the cabin due to the ransom on their heads and Castiel had brought us back to Bobby's.

"There is a key to a bunker that you need to find. It will help to protect Elizabeth and the rest of us so she is accompanying you to aid your discovery of it," Castiel repeated, not making it any clearer. 

"Okay, the gist of it's clear... I think..." Sam tried whilst packing a bag, "I reckon we should just get out on the road, it might get easier then." 

He looked to Dean who nodded, "I'll get my keys."

As Dean walked out, Cas disappeared and Sam rolled his eyes, "I hope to God that you know what we're doing..."

"The gist of it." I passed him his laptop as he motioned for it, placing it carefully in the rucksack before zipping it up and grabbing the handles. "You guys have a car?"

"Yeah. More like Dean has a car and I'm lucky to be allowed inside of it. Just... don't ask him anything about it, it'll be an even longer journey if we get onto that one-sided conversation..." The exasperated look he had as he said it told me that he'd experienced more than a fair share of talk about the car.

We headed outside as Dean was already starting up a sleek black Chevrolet Impala, "Any idea where we're headed, Liz?" I was taken aback by the new nickname before I realised he was talking to me.

I thought about it for a moment, looking around until I felt a strange tugging sensation. Gabe had taught me how to search for things before I'd left when we'd been left alone in the front room - he'd been really nice about it up until the point where he pinched my ass, winking slyly at me as Castiel flew me away. He wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't over...

"East," I told him. He looked at me like I'd grown two heads. "I know, it's not helpful but it's all I got..."

"Fine... east it is..." He climbed into the driver's side and Sam took shotgun so I was left in the backseat which seemed to reek of Castiel's grace. I'd found I could sense angels by their scents earlier that day and it was proving to be very annoying, especially since Cas smelled like licorice and rain - two of my least favourite things... I much preferred Gabe, whose aroma was one of candy and fresh cotton, and Dad, who always smelled of wine and roses.

"Castiel is a strange angel..." I observed to no one in particular. 

Dean glanced at me in the rearview mirror as we pulled out of Bobby's driveway, "Yeah, why do you say that?"

"He has wings that work perfectly well and then he spends most of his time travelling in a car..." 

"Yeah, that is weird, isn't it?" Sam agreed, looking back at me, "How are you, by the way? I feel like you've been caught up in all this and no one has really stopped to think about the fact that you're still a person... well, kind of a person."

"I'm holding up," I sighed as Dean started down the highway, the sky darkening as it was getting late, "Dad and Gabe have been looking out for me..."

"Must be strange... having Balthazar for a father," Dean said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead as a truck overtook us, "Jackass..."

I assumed he didn't mean the insult towards Dad, "He's actually really nice once you get to know him. He does the whole 'overprotective dad' thing very well... better than my old dad..." I trailed off and Sam saw the sadness ebbing into my eyes.

"They weren't great, huh?" I shook my head. "I know how you feel..." He looked towards Dean who stayed silent, "You're lucky to have at least one parent who cares about you... Is Gabriel playing mummy, then?"

My eyes went wide at the bizarreness of that mental image, "Uh... no..."

"Why's he hanging around then? Why does he care so much?" Suddenly, realisation washed over his face, "No... You're not- You? ...with Gabriel-?" I nodded, blushing slightly as he let out a girly squeal, "Oh my God, really?!"

"Yes, Sam. Really..."

"But he's like- how old is he exactly? A million? More?" Sam's face was lit up like it was Christmas, glowing like the headlights of the cars that passed us.

"What the hell are you talking about, Sammy?" Dean questioned, annoyed at his little brother's sudden weirdness.

"Elizabeth's dating Gabriel!" he blurted out as I slapped his shoulder.

Dean looked at me incredulously in the mirror, "Gabriel? Really? Jeez... really?"

"Yes, really..." I sighed, not really embarrassed by the fact since Gabe was a fantastic guy/ethereal being.

"I don't believe you," Dean said adamantly, "Prove it."

"How the hell can I prove it, Dean? He's in the middle of Alaska or somewhere... Believe what you want..."

"Oh, archangel Gabriel..." Dean began.

"What are you doing?"

"Praying to him. Cometh to our humble careth and proveth your loveth for Elizabeth-eth," he said in a ridiculous voice.

"He won't come," I told him but was cut off by the flutter of wings and the smell of candy as Gabe appeared beside me, "What are you doing here?"

"You called me," he replied, confused, "I thought-"

"It was Dean," I sighed, glaring at the back of the Winchester's head, "He wanted me to prove something..." I muttered the last part as Gabe looked towards Dean.

"What was it?" I could see him reading Dean's thoughts before he smirked, "Ohhh..." The next thing I knew, I was pinned against the back seat by Gabe's lips as he pressed them forcefully against mine. I couldn't help smiling into it as I heard Dean fake-retching in the front and so did Gabe as he pushed me further into the cushioned leather.

"Okay, okay, I believe you!" Dean pleaded in fear, trying to cover his eyes whilst also concentrating on the road. 

Gabe pulled away and grinned, "Still not over..."

"Fine," I breathed, "Now, get lost before the angels find you..."

"Okay," he smiled, pecking my lips again just to annoy Dean who groaned, "See ya. Don't get hurt..." And with that, he was gone.

I glanced over at Dean who I could tell wasn't going to admit that he was wrong. "I am never praying to that dick again..."


	16. Chapter 15

SEASON 8 SPOILERS ALERT

We pulled into a dingy motel as the sky got even darker but they didn't have any rooms for three so Sam offered his bed to me, sleeping on the couch instead. I felt bad but he was adamant even though I told him that I didn't need sleep - I reckon it was a male ego sort of thing.

Sighing, I drifted off anyway, falling into the dream world beyond my eyelids...

_I was back in the cabin but it was empty all except for myself and Gabe, who stood a few feet in front of me, "You're not real..."_

_"I am, Beth," he insisted, smirking his signature smirk, "I can project myself into your dreams... it's an archangel thing..." He stepped forwards and pulled me into a hug - he was real, I could smell candy all around him._

_"Why are you here?"_

_"It's the only safe way that I can still see you... I miss you..." I looked up and saw true longing in his golden eyes as I leaned upwards and put my lips to his. He sighed into the kiss, snaking his arms around my waist and resting his hands on my ass - it was definitely him._

_I tilted my head slightly and deepened the kiss, exploring his mouth and giggling as he let out a moan. "You know," he said, pulling away, "since this is a dream, there's no one to interrupt us..." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively._

_"I've known you for two days, Gabe. Don't you think that's a little fast?"_

_"I've had shorter..." he told me before realising what he'd just said. I pulled away from him, "I mean... that's not what I meant..." he struggled._

_I looked away from him, hurt, "I know exactly what you meant, Gabriel... Is that all I am to you? Another fling?"_

_"No. Definitely not," he pleaded, "You're not like that..."_

_"Right..." I looked around, "I think I'd like to wake up, now."_

_"Beth, please..."_

_"I said, I think I'd like to wake up, now..."_

_Gabriel sighed before reluctantly clicking his fingers and the image faded away..._

I woke up to see that it was only two in the morning so, with nothing else to do, I clambered out of bed and tried my best to forget about Gabriel as I paced back and forth across the room.

After a few hours, dawn started to break through the curtains and I was still pacing, "Aren't you tired yet? You've been doing that for hours..."

I spun around to see Sam looking up at me, "How long have you been awake?"

"Since you started pacing," he replied, sitting up on the couch and patting the seat beside him, "What's up?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you," I apologised, sitting down but he shook his head saying that it was no problem, "It's hard to explain... Gabriel... contacted me in a dream." He didn't seem too surprised by it so I continued, "He - 'accidentally' - let slip about how he's had flings before and how they haven't lasted long... then, get this, he had the cheek to try and apologise for it..."

Sam was silent for a moment, "Wow... what a douche bag..."

"I know. My thoughts exactly..." I sighed, wiping a stray tear from my eyes, "I wish he'd never said anything..."

Unexpectedly, Sam wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug, "I'm sure he'll find some extravagant way to make it up to you. If not, it's his loss..."

"Thanks, Sam. I'm gonna go clean up my face, have a wash, y'know..." He nodded and I went into the bathroom, locking the door behind me and leaning on the sink as I looked in the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, gaunt and lifeless as I sighed, grabbing one of the supposedly 'freshly laundered' towels and dabbing my face with it.

The taps squeaked deafeningly as I washed my face, using my hands since the cup provided seemed to be growing new life in the bottom of it and it didn't look like it wanted to be disturbed. I gasped as the freezing water hit my skin but at least it cleaned the grease and dirt away.

I remained in there for about ten minutes, only torn away from my thoughts by muffled yells coming from the other room. Unlocking the door and rushing out, I was met with the scene of both Sam and Dean handcuffed to the chair in the corner of the room. "Jacket pocket. Lock pick. Now!" Dean demanded.

His jacket lay on the back of the sofa and, after a few seconds of rifling through his pockets, I found his lock pick, tossing it to him as he unlocked the handcuffs and they both ran past me and out of the door, "Come on, Liz!"

We ran along the veranda outside the rooms just as I saw some guy smashing the window and climbing into the Impala, watching as Dean angrily pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man's head, "Nice taste in wheels..."

Sam wasn't far behind, opening the passenger side door to block his escape route. "Yours, I presume?"

Within minutes, the guys had hauled him back to the room and forced him down in a chair before carrying out all the necessary tests. The guy laughed as he was splashed in the face with water, "And there with the holy water..."

"He's clean," Sam confirmed.

"I could have told you that..." The man rolled his sleeves back down over the cuts that Dean had made on his forearms.

"Yeah, well, you can start by telling us everything before I beat it out of you."

He looked up at Dean and shook his head pitifully, "I'm quite certain this is all belong your understanding, my alpha-male-monkey friend. And violence will not help you comprehend this any easier..." This guy was starting to get in my nerves, too...

Dean cocked his gun and pointed it at the man's head again, grabbing the front of his jacket, "Let me tell you what I understand! Some asshat pops out of my closet asking about my dad, smashes up my ride. So, why am I not getting violent, again?"

The guy suddenly stopped looking so smug, "John Winchester is your father?" The closet rattled again, "What is that? Oh my God..."

"What?"

He glanced at Dean, "Run!" As soon as he said it, the closet door burst open once more in a flash of bright light and once it cleared, a woman stepped out.

She laughed, "Henry..."


	17. Chapter 16

STILL SEASON 8 SPOILERS ALERT

"Silly man, you forgot to lock the door..." she sounded sweet but there was a menacing look in her eyes. I could sense a powerful demonic influence within her body. "But then, spells never were your best subject, were they? Why don't you be a doll and give me what I want? And I promise to kill you and your friends here quickly..."

"You know I can't do that," 'Henry' replied.

"You're not a fighter, Henry," she tutted. Dean raised his gun at her but he and Sam were thrown back against the wall with a flick of her wrist. She tried to throw me back, too, but it didn't seem to work. "No matter."

"Josie, I know you're still in there," Henry was addressing the vessel rather than the demon that possessed it, "You must fight this..."

"I'm afraid Josie's indisposed, pet. It looks like it's just you and me-" she suddenly choked as Dean stabbed her in the back with a knife, her body flickering with gold light as she fell to her knees, "Ooh... Ahhh..." The light suddenly stopped and Dean's face fell, "Well, that is no way to treat a lady..."

No one even questioned what to do next, we all just grabbed anything important and ran out of the door. Dean reached the Impala first, climbing in as Henry got in the passenger seat and Sam and I jumped in the back with Sam yelling, "Go, go, go, go, go, go!"

Dean pulled out of the parking lot, narrowly missing an oncoming car before speeding away down the open road, everyone inside the car breathing manically apart from me since the running didn't affect my body in any way. We drove for a good ten miles before Dean decided it was safe to pull over and as soon as he did, Henry bolted out of the car and threw up in a nearby bush.

I followed him out as Sam and Dean stayed by the car, "You okay?"

"Yes, I will be," he breathed before retching again, "It's just all the adventures I usually enjoy are of the literary nature..."

Dean came up beside me, "Yeah, well, now that you're done blowing chunks, you want to tell us who Betty Crocker was?"

"Abaddon," Henry replied, straightening up, "She's a demon." No shit.

"No kidding," Sam said, voicing my thoughts, "Where'd she come from?"

"Where'd you come from?" Dean added.

"She's from Hell. I'm from Normal, Illinois - 1958."

"I'm sorry, but that is anything but normal," I directed at him before turning to the boys, "This happen a lot?"

"More often than you'd think..." Sam sighed, looking back to Henry.

"Seriously? Dudes time-travelling through motel-room closets? That's what we've come to?" Dean's expression said that this was definitely one of their weirder hunts.

"If you could just take me to John," Henry insisted, "we could clear all this up, I'm sure."

"I've told you that's not gonna happen," Dean said through gritted teeth. Castiel hadn't explained what happened to their father...

"Why not?" 

"Because he's dead!" 

Henry's eyes filled with sadness as he turned away, "No."

I went to comfort him but Sam held me back, "What's it to you?"

"Everything," he replied, "I'm his father."

\------------

After a bit more driving, Dean pulled into the lot of a fairly busy diner, finding us a table and leaving Henry at it before the three of us went over to the counter. "Driver's licence says he's Henry Winchester from Normal, Illinois," Sam sighed, "He knows Dad's birthday, the exact place where he was born. Dude, that's our grandfather..."

Dean thanked the waitress as she took our order, "I'm just saying before we break out the warm and toasties, let's not forget that, uh, H.G. Wells over there," he nodded to Henry who was gazing out of the window, "left Dad high and dry when he was a kid..."

"But maybe he didn't run out on Dad - I mean, not on purpose," Sam reasoned, "Maybe he time-travelled here and, I don't know, got stuck?" 

"Yeah, well, either way, Dad hated the son of a bitch..." 

"And Dad made up for that how?" Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow, "By being father of the year?" I didn't know much about their father but I kind of related with them on that front - not about Balthazar, but about my old father...

The waitress returned with a tray of food. "Thanks," Dean said before turning back to us, "Look, Dad had his issues, okay, but he was always there for us. I freaking hate time-travel, man..."

Sam picked up the tray and we headed back to the table, Dean and I sitting on one side and him taking the empty space beside Henry, "How you doing?"

"I'll be fine," Henry sighed, looking up at us, "After all, despite everything, I've just met my grandsons, haven't I?" He held out a hand to Sam, "Henry Winchester. It's a pleasure."

"Sam." They shook hands.

"Hello, Sam," Henry turned to Dean who placed a basket of food in front of him.

"Dinner."

"This is Dean," Sam explained to Henry who nodded and looked over at me, "And this is Elizabeth. No relation but she's our friend." I smiled and Henry shook my hand, too.

"Well, this has been touching..." Dean said sarcastically, biting into his burger, "How about we figure out how to clean up your mess, huh?"

"Abaddon... she must be stopped..." Henry muttered.

"How come she didn't die when I stabbed her?"

Henry looked at Dean like he was a child, "Because demons can't be killed by run-of-the-mill cutlery. At the very least, you'd need an ancient demon-killing knife of the Kur-" he stopped as Dean pulled the knife out of his jacket, "Wh-where did you get that?"

"Demon gave it to me," Dean replied, tucking it away again, "We've been around this block so many times..."

"Now, this portal or whatever you came through - is it still open?" Sam interrupted. Henry shook his head. "I'm just thinking... if we can't kill this Abaddon..."

"Maybe we can shove her back where she came from?" I finished and Sam nodded, "How did you do it?"

"It's a blood sigil," I could tell he didn't expect me to understand but I nodded anyway, just to spite him, "Blood leads to blood. Or their next of kin."

Sam looked at him thoughtfully, "But Abaddon also came through it, right? So can you create this blood sigil again?" 

"My blood, an angel feather, tears of a dragon, a pinch of the sands of time - I - I would need those and... at least a week for my soul to recharge, but, yes, its possible..." Henry explained.

"You tapped the power of your soul to get here? I thought only angels could do that?" Sam looked at me and I shrugged. How was I supposed to know?

Henry looked between us in curiosity, "You should know this. What level are you?"

"Level?" Dean muttered through his mouthful of burger, raising an eyebrow.

"Level of knowledge. You're Men of Letters, right?" I'd heard that term before... Castiel had mentioned it...

"What are Men of Letters?" I asked him, intrigued. Sam and Dean nodded for him to answer me.

"Your father? He taught you our ways?" Henry clarified, confused by their lack of reaction, "You're not... are you?" He laughed before seeing their hard expressions, "Hunters? Hunters are apes... you're supposed to be legacies..."

"Legacies of what?"


	18. Chapter 17

STILL SEASON 8 SPOILERS - TO BE FAIR YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T READ THIS STORY IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS...

Henry insisted that Dean drove us all the way to Illinois so he did, expecting something to be there. There didn't seem to be anything supernatural on the street we now stood on, just an old coffee shop and a few deli's.

Henry stood in front of the door to a store called 'Astro Comics', running his fingers over a small symbol etched in the wood beside it above the number 242, "No..."

"All right, well, this was enlightening..." Dean sighed, clapping his hands and making me jump beside him, "Let's hit the road, huh?"

"Give him a minute, Dean..."

Dean huffed angrily in Sam's direction, "We just spent four hours of driving, okay? All he did was stare out the window and request Pat Boone on the radio. He had his time."

"It's just a façade," Henry muttered helplessly, "a way to rook our enemies into believing we are housed elsewhere..."

"Okay, enough with the decoder talk. How about you tell us what this whole 'Men of Letters' business is, or you're on your own..." Dean warned.

"It's none of your business." Henry straightened up and looked down his nose at Sam and Dean, "You hunters wouldn't understand..."

"You know what? Wait a second. We're also John's children," Sam argued before looking at me and grinning, "Oh, and a Nephalem..." I looked at him, confused so he leaned forward and whispered, "I did some research..."

Henry's eyes widened to unbelievable proportions as Dean smirked, "N-Nephalem... That's impossible... they don't exist..."

"You better believe it, Buster..." I laughed, stepping forwards, "Unless you want to see my power...?"

He jumped back and shrieked as I made my eyes turn grey on demand - a skill I'd been practising and was easy to do since he was getting on my nerves. Henry looked behind me at Sam and Dean who were both grinning slyly, "Working with an abomination? Is that what John taught you?"

"Hey! Less of the abomination crap," I brought his attention back to me, "I've been told I'm actually quite beautiful... Now, show them what this 'Men of Letters' stuff is all about..."

_"Nice..."_

I looked at Sam and Dean, smiling, but neither of them seemed to have spoken. In fact, it sounded more like Dad's voice. _"Dad?"_ I asked in my mind.

_"Yeah, it's me. I forgot to tell you I could do this."_

_"How long have you been listening in?"_

_"Since your eyes went grey,"_ he replied, _"The connection seemed to get stronger around that point. I'm guessing that guy's Grandpa Winchester?"_

_"Yeah, do you have any idea about this 'Men of Letters' business?"_

_"I haven't the foggiest. I'm sure you'll find out, though,"_ his tone suddenly changed, _"What happened between you and Gabriel?"_ he heard me growl at the name, _"Down, tiger! Seriously though, he's been moping around for the past ten hours and he almost smited poor Cas when he mentioned your name..."_

I felt a pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach but I ignored it. He was just playing it up - he wanted me to feel guilty. _"I'll explain later..."_ He was about to reply when another voice interrupted us, seeming to sever the signal. 

"Uh, Liz?" Dean's voice brought me back to reality as I realised I was just stood still, staring into space.

"Oh... sorry, internal conversation," I gestured to my head as he looked at me bizarrely.

"With yourself?" 

"No, with my Dad." 

"Your da- ...you know what? I ain't even gonna question the craziness anymore..." he sighed, shaking his head.

"It's probably best..." I advised, looking back at Henry who looked as if he feared for his life, "Where are we going, then?"

\-----------------

Henry led us into the, seemingly empty, comic store, looking around at all the posters and books with confusion clear on his face.

"Henry? Why?" Sam asked, making him turn to face us again, "Why'd she do it?"

"I think for this," he replied, holding up a small wooden box, engraved with the same symbol that was outside.

"Okay... what's that?" Sam encouraged since the answer wasn't much to go on.

"I wish I knew," he put the box back in his pocket, "Abaddon attacked us the night of my final initiation. All secrets were to be revealed then."

"Let me get this straight," Dean sighed, bringing back the sarcasm, "you travelled through time to protect something that does you don't know what from a demon that you know nothing about?" Henry ignored him and walked up to the counter as Dean spread his hands questioningly, "Good..."

"Hand me your... walkie-talkie..." he requested, holding his hand out to a bewildered Sam.

"You mean my phone?"

"Even better." Henry took it from him and held it to his mouth, "Operator, I need Delta 457."

"Who are you not calling?" Dean asked. 

"Our emergency number." Henry tried repeating it, confused when he heard no reply. 

Dean took the phone from his hands and passed it back to Sam who pocketed it, "Yeah, not anymore..." He turned to the young woman behind the counter who looked like she'd rather be working anywhere else, "Hey, uh, hi? Can we hijack your computer for a hot second?" 

She nodded as Henry laughed, "Like you could fit a computer in a room..."

"Thanks," Dean smiled, ignoring him, "Sam."

Sam turned the laptop towards him and began typing as Dean started checking the girl out - I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me he'd done the same thing when he first saw me, "Yep. All right, um... give me a name - anyone who, uh, might have been there that night - one of those elders..."

 "Um... Ackers, David. Larry Ganem," Sam typed them in as Henry said them, "Um, Ted-"

"Okay, here it is. Um, August 12, 1958. A tragic fire at a gentlemen's club. Uh, 242 Gaines Street..." Sam read from the screen.

"This is 242 Gaines Street. But that was no fire," Henry said sadly as Sam rounded off the names.

"Larry Ganem, David Ackers, Ted Bowen, and Albert Magnus - all deceased."

Henry gulped, "Albert Magnus..."

"He a friend of yours?" Dean sighed tiredly as the woman behind the counter got bored of him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders instead but it was completely platonic since he still thought I was close with Gabriel - I doubted I would be for quite some time...

 "Even better," Henry replied.


	19. Chapter 18

Dean pulled into the cemetery as the night drew in, getting out and grabbing the flashlights from the trunk before handing one each to Sam and I and keeping one for himself. He didn't even offer Henry one, knowing he'd have some crazy remark about them.

"These were my friends... my mentors," Henry told us as Dean checked the names on the headstones, "our last defence against the Abaddon's of the world..."

Dean shone the light over a particular one, "Here's your buddy, Albert Magnus."

"Albertus Magnus," Henry observed, "He was hardly a buddy. He was the greatest alchemist of the middle ages."

"Okay, so... why is he buried here?"

Henry glanced over as I asked, still slightly jumpy around me, "He's not. His was the alias we'd use when going incognito. I believe someone planted his name in that article... so that if a Man of Letters came looking for answers, he'd know something was amiss..."

"So someone wanted you to come to this grave," Sam caught on, searching the ground with his flashlight.

"The question is why..." Dean shone his light over a symbol on the headstone like the one on the box, looking at it questioningly. "That's our crest. The Aquarian Star, representing great magic and power."

"Hmm," Sam scanned over the other stones before landing on one, "It's on all the tombstones except for this one - uh, Larry Ganem..."

Henry crouched down beside it and looked at the different symbol engraved into Larry's stone, "The Haitian symbol for speaking to the dead. This is the message." He looked up at the three of us, "You guys ever exhume a body?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other before Dean sighed, "I'll get the shovels..."

So that's how, five minutes later, the three of us were digging up this poor guy's grave while Henry unhelpfully watched on from the sidelines. Sam tried to tell me they didn't need my help but I was having none of it - I came on the hunt to help and, so help me, that was what I was gonna do.

After about an hour of digging, Dean's shovel hit something hard, unearthing a coffin, "Tell me how we got stuck doing this again?"

"Hey, it's your grandad, not mine..."

Sam knelt down and opened the coffin, lifting the lid and revealing a skeleton wearing a uniform.

"Hey, was Larry a World War One vet?" Henry shook his head at Dean's question. "Well, uh, who's the stiff?"

Sam picked up a set of metal tags from the skeleton's clothes, "Captain Thomas J. Carey the third. That mean anything to you?"

Henry shook his head again. Dean looked up at him, "Well, somebody wanted you to see this, so maybe that somebody is Larry. Maybe he survived the attack and is hiding out with this guy's identity?"

"Okay. What are we waiting for, then?" Henry got up and began walking back to the Impala, "Cover this up. Let's be on our way."

"Yes, sir. Three bags full, sir..." I sighed sarcastically, grabbing my shovel again and attacking the mounds of dirt we'd barely just created. Sam laughed tiredly before climbing out of the hole and helping Dean and I fill it back in. "Your grandpa isn't gonna be much help in this, right?"

"You could've just scared him again with your eyes," Dean pointed out, "Which was pretty cool, by the way..."

I shook my head, "It needs strong emotions and I'm too exhausted for any emotions right now... this vessel gets tired very easily, I think I've got a slow metabolism..."

"Wow, who'd have thought a slow metabolism could slow a Nephalem down?" Sam laughed again, "Only one thing can stop you - and it's exercise?"

"Seems like it... I'll have to talk to my Dad about finding a better vessel..."

Finally, we finished up filling the grave and made our way back over to where Henry had been sat in the car for the past however long. Dean drove back to a motel just outside of Normal and we checked in, careful not to use our real names - my alias became 'Ms. Jett'.

Sam got his laptop out of the trunk as soon as we pulled in, immediately setting it up on the table for Dean and I while he rummaged around in his backpack and found a battered journal. Dean typed in 'Thomas J. Carey III', getting a whole page of results back and scrolling down it.

"Hey, what about the County records?" I suggested pointing to the link third from the top of the page. 

He opened it and scanned through the record under the Captain's name, "According to this... Tom Carey lives in Lebanon, Kansas, and is a very happy hundred-and-twenty-seven year-old..."

"Hang on... there's something about Abaddon in Dad's journal..." Sam interrupted, passing his finger over the page he was on, "Apparently, she's a Knight of Hell..."

"A what now?"

"Knights of Hell are hand-picked by Lucifer himself," Henry explained from the chair in the corner, "They are of the first-fallen, first-born demons."

"So, very pure, very strong?" Sam guessed and he nodded.

"Legend has it that Archangels had killed all of them," dammit, Gabriel... "which, as we have witnessed, is not the case... You say that journal was your father's? May I?" Sam passed the small, leather-bound book to him. "I intended to use one of these. I sent away for one the day before my initiation..." he opened the first page and looked at something, "As a matter of fact, judging by my initials here, this one, I believe..."

"That was yours?"

Henry looked over at Dean, "It must have arrived after... I'm beginning to gather I don't make it back from this time, do I?"

"We don't know for sure," Sam told him as he looked down sadly, "All we do know is that Dad never saw you again... he thought you ran out on him..."

"John was a legacy. I was supposed to teach him the way of the Letters..."

Dean rolled his eyes at me as if to say 'here we go again', "Well, he learned things a little differently... the hard way. Surviving a lonely childhood, a stinking war... only to get married and have his wife taken by a demon... and later killed by one himself. That man got a bum rap around every turn. But you know what? He kept going. And in the end, he did a hell of a lot more good than he did bad..."

This was all news to me, too. I had no idea how shitty the hunter life could be but now I guessed John Winchester was probably the poster child for it. I just hoped Sam and Dean didn't follow him down - they were nice guys, they deserved a good life... 

That thought made me think of Gabriel; I'd gotten so mad at him for mentioning a previous love when he himself is thousands of years old... perhaps love is the only thing that keeps him sane in this messed up universe...

"I'm sorry. I wish I had been there for him," Henry said with no real emotion in his face or his voice. I felt Dean tense up beside me before he got up and walked over to the door.

"Yeah, it's a little late now, don't you think?" Dean countered angrily.

"It's the price we pay for upholding great responsibility. We know that." Dean glared at Henry like he was imagining wrapping his hands around his neck. He was beginning to irk me, too.

"Your responsibility was to your family, not some glorified book club!" Dean's voice got louder through his gritted teeth as he pulled on his jacket.

"I was a legacy. I had no choice." Bullshit.

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that..." The door slammed as he stormed out into the parking lot and headed towards the Impala. I glanced at Sam before rushing after him - I didn't want to hang around Henry any more than he did...


	20. Chapter 19

"Dean!" I called after him as he was climbing into the driver's seat. He looked up at me through the windscreen, watching while I ran over. 

"Look, Liz..." he started but I cut him off.

"Don't you, 'look, Liz' me. Wherever you're going, I'm coming with," I got into the passenger seat before he had a chance to argue, "Your grandad doesn't seem to like me much either..."

Dean sighed and put the car into reverse, "Yeah, I know... If I'd known he was such a jerk, I'd have forgiven Dad for how he raised us a long time ago..." He pulled out into the road and picked up speed as we drove into the night, "Did you see how he didn't even care that he's not going back to him? How can someone hate their kid that much?"

I nodded understandingly though he was looking at the road ahead, "I know the feeling..." he turned to me worriedly, "Yeah, my parents were crap..." 

I explained the first eighteen years of my life to him in the next half an hour as we kept driving, not particularly heading anywhere. Dean seemed both intrigued and saddened by my story, only interrupting to squeeze my hand as I relived the pain of the hellhounds' torture.

"Your mother did that?" he asked horrified, tapping his hands on the steering wheel as we cruised down the highway, "Demons, man..."

"That's what Balthazar reckons. She's the only one who could have broken through the protection he placed over me... he felt so terrible when he found out..."

"Well, at least you've got a better family now, hey?" he smiled, gently pushing my shoulder and ruffling my hair as I laughed, batting his hand away, "Balthazar may be crazy but it looks like he's handling it well and, well, you've always got Gabriel..." He noticed my face fall. "Okay, maybe you haven't...? What happened?"

"I think I'm overreacting but he mentioned his past flings... how they didn't last long..." I looked down at my hands in my lap, fiddling with the zip on my hoodie.

Dean whistled lowly, "Wow... mentioning the exes? Big mistake." He glanced over at me, "Come on..." He suddenly pulled the Impala up beside a field before cutting the engine and getting out, beckoning for me to follow. I looked at him as if he'd gone mad but he insisted.

He stood in the middle of the field, pulling me to stand next to him, "Call Gabriel."

"What?"

"Call him." Dean gestured towards the empty land in front of us. "If he cares, he'll come running."

"He won-" I began but Dean cut me off with a meaningful glare, "Fine..." I closed my eyes and called "Gabe!" After waiting for a minute of two, I sighed in defeat, "See?"

I turned to head back to the Impala but stopped and snapped back around when I heard wings. I expected Gabe to be stood there but my heart sunk slightly then rose a bit when I found Dad in front of me, "Dad?"

"I know you were expecting Gabriel but he's not at the house," as I looked up at his face, I saw that he was shaking with worry, "He took off earlier mumbling something about 'making things right with the other angels'. I'm worried he's gone on a suicide mission..."

"Dad, I'm sure he'll be okay," I assured him, suddenly wracked with worry myself as I ran over and hugged him, "Do you have any idea where he's gone?"

He shook his head with a look of sorrow in his eyes, "Cas left early this morning to avoid suspicion but I doubt he'd be of much use. I hoped you could help me find him... if Sam and Dean can manage without you. Gabriel might listen to you..."

He looked to Dean who nodded, "I'm sure we can get by. Go find him - he'll be a nervous wreck without you..." He directed the last part at me.

"Thank you, Dean," Dad said honestly before turning back to me, "Will you come with me, darling?"

"Okay." 

As soon as I said it, I was whisked away as he flew me back to the cabin. We landed slightly rougher than usual as he stumbled at the last second with worry but we recovered quickly and rushed inside. 

The house was scarily quiet without Gabe, the lack of his laughter made our footsteps echo eerily despite my attempts to tread lightly, "So what exactly did he say?"

"Something along the lines of 'I've made a mistake... I have to make things right with the other angels... maybe then they'll leave her alone'" Dad recalled, knowing full well how it sounded.

My heart plummeted, "So, you think...?" I trailed off, not able to say it.

"He's handing himself over in your place... Yes..." Dad sighed, running a hand through his hair, "We need to stop him... but I don't know how..."

"Where do you think he'll have gone?"

"Heaven, probably," he told me after considering it, looking at me as if trying to figure out why I wanted to know, "Why?"

"Take me there," his eyes went wide at the suggestion.

"No! Definitely not!" he argued, shaking his head, "That is not even an option! No-"

"Dad, you know it's the only way they'll let him out alive..."

"You are not sacrificing yourself for him! Are you crazy?!" Dad cried, taking my face in his hands, "You mean too much to me, Elizabeth... I'm not letting my daughter walk in there and get killed!"

I sighed helplessly, "Then come with me... they won't even know we're there until it's too late... I care too much about Gabe to leave him there to die..." As I said it, I realised it was true - I'd gotten so angry at him for something that didn't really matter but I still cared about him, I couldn't bear the thought of him getting hurt for my sake...

Dad pondered it and there was a reluctant look in his eyes but he gave in. "Okay..." he breathed, pressing his lips to my forehead, "I'll take you but don't do anything stupid... promise me you'll stay behind me..."

"I promise, Dad," I replied, taking his outstretched hand.

He smiled down at me and for the first time I saw he was nervous, his nerves on edge, "Okay... let's go..."


	21. Chapter 20

We landed quietly in what looked like a broom closet though I had no idea why angels would need mops and buckets. "Where are we?" I whispered in the darkness.

"Main halls of Heaven," Dad muttered back, careful not to step in any buckets, "Stay quiet, there are angels in the corridor outside..." I could sense at least three angels within a twenty metre radius of us, meaning we were surrounded and trapped.

"How are we gonna get past them?" I couldn't think of any way Dad wouldn't be recognised...

"Close your eyes," he instructed so I did, past the point of questioning by now. A bright light grew in front of my closed eyelids, strong enough that I could see each individual vein in the skin there. Within seconds, it faded and Dad spoke up again, "Okay, you can open them now."

I opened my eyes again, blinking to get rid of the spots in my vision, and looked up at Dad... but he looked completely different. Stood before me was a shorter man with golden hair and whiskey coloured eyes wearing a jacket and jeans...

Stood before me, was Gabriel.

"Dad?" I questioned and he nodded. Was he crazy?

"Yep," he even had Gabe's voice, "I know, I'm crazy, but I figured this was the only way to get in without being killed. They'll have two Gabriel's and have no idea which one's real thanks to the spell..." It was so weird hearing Gabriel's voice but Dad's words...

I thought about it before realising he was right, "That's pretty clever... What about me?"

"Act scared." I didn't even have chance to process what that meant as he grabbed me around the throat and pulled me out of the closet as the three nearest angels jumped back before rushing forwards to apprehend him. "Stay back!" he yelled, pulling out a fake archangel blade that looked surprisingly real, "Or I kill the angel!"

The angels stopped where they were, not taking any chances since they thought they had an insane archangel on their hands. "Gabriel?" one asked confusedly, "but I thought...?" He looked down to the doors at the end of the hall and it took me all my effort not to break free from Dad's grip and run down there, knowing that Gabe probably lay beyond them.

"You thought what?" Dad spat angrily, playing the fool and pretending he didn't know Gabriel was here, "It doesn't matter. Do as I say or the angel gets it!" I imagined his grip looked strong but in reality he was holding me gently and carefully; I was doing the rest of the work, struggling and gasping to make it look real to the angels.

"Okay, Gabriel. What is it that you want?" the female one said calmly.

"Take me through there," he gestured to the doors with his free arm, "I believe Uriel is through there?" She nodded. "Well, take me through, then!" I flinched as he yelled right in my ear but he was very quick to apologise once her back was turned. The other two had fled when they had the chance...

The angel nodded again, gulping nervously before heading down the corridor and gesturing for Dad to follow her. He pulled me with him and I yelped in shock as he whispered anpther apology in my ear when no one weren't looking - they probably thought he was just threatening me.

She pushed open the huge wooden doors as if they bore no weight at all, causing silence to fall inside as I was pulled through by Dad. It was a huge room, ornate like those at Dad's house, but I didn't care for the furnishings as I saw who was in the centre of it.

Sprawled on the floor, hair matted with sweat and face contorted in pain, lay Gabriel... my Gabriel... I felt Dad pull me back as I subconsciously stepped towards him, the guilt hitting me like a train. All of the angels in the room looked up in shock, even the one looming over Gabe's broken form, greatly confused as to why there were now two identical archangels before them.

"What is this?" the one who I guessed was Uriel questioned, looking between Dad and Gabriel on the ground, "We're tired of your trickery, Gabriel... just give it up..."

"Oh, we're both incredibly real," Dad countered as Gabe on the floor groaned, his body glowing weakly as he tried to heal the numerous wounds which littered his skin. I felt anger flare inside me as I noticed Uriel was holding his archangel blade, dripping Gabriel's blood over the floor beside him. "But, strangely enough, I bear a greater threat to you all..."

He gestured down at me, tightening his grip slightly but not enough to choke me, "Please! Help me, he'll kill me!" I saw the real Gabe twitch uncomfortably as he heard my voice.

"Shut up..." Dad hissed, holding the blade to my throat again and I was actually scared for a moment at the authority in his voice before I remembered he was acting. I whimpered at the cold metal against my skin. "I'll kill her if you don't free that me and let both of us leave without a challenge..."

"Let the girl go," Uriel instructed but Dad shook his head, "You don't want to do this, Gabriel..." He looked between the two Gabriel's again as real Gabe lifted his head, his eyes filled with disbelief as he saw me held hostage by himself. He raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged, unsure how I could possibly explain this one...

"Oh, yes I do," Dad replied, nodding earnestly, "I really do."

"Yep..." Everyone turned as Gabe spoke up hoarsely, "Definitely..."

"Oh, you can shut up. You've refused to tell us anything about that abomination for the past three hours..." A low growl erupted in my throat at the annoying term, muffled only by Dad's hand as he gave me a pointed look, telling me to calm down - my eyes going grey wouldn't help the situation...

"Hey!" Dad interrupted, "Don't you talk to me like that..."

Uriel seemed to ponder something for a second, "You know, it's strange... I can't sense any of your graces... not even hers," he gestured to me, "How do I know any of you are the real thing? How do I know Gabriel isn't on the other side of the galaxy?"

"How about I shove this blade through your heart? If you feel it, we're the real thing," Dad offered cockily, waving the fake blade in front of me as I winced and shrank away from it.

"I doubt that's necessary..." Uriel laughed, looking around like some great joke had just been told, "Though, I have to thank you for giving me a closer look at that fake blade... nice craftsmanship, very neat..." 

Dad's eyes widened as he realised he'd been busted, "Okay, fine!" he dropped the blade and pushed me forward to go over to where Gabe was before changing back to his old vessel and pulling out his real blade from his blazer, "I'll just use this one instead!"

"Balthazar!" Uriel said through gritted teeth, "I should've known... you're on this scum's side now, are you?" he gestured to Gabe who was still glowing but had laid back down. I resisted the urge to kneel down and tend to his wounds, knowing it would give us away completely. "What would Cas say?"

"Something really stupid probably..." Dad gave me a look before glancing down at the blade in Uriel's hand. I nodded, eyes wide at the suggestion but I knew it was our only way out of this now.

"Stupid-?" the angel beside me started but I cut him off, grabbing the blade from his hand as his eyes went wide and the other angels rushed forwards to stop me.

"Yeah, pretty stupid..." I plunged the blade into his chest as Dad sent the other angels flying against the wall, shielding my eyes as light poured out of him.

Then, it fell into chaos...


	22. Chapter 21

As Uriel fell to the ground beside him, Gabe jumped into action, grabbed the blade from his chest and got to his feet. He was seemingly healed as he hugged me briefly before getting Uriel's own blade and passing it to me. "Behind you!"

I spun around just in time to stab the angel that tried to sneak up on me, sending him falling as I pulled it back out of his chest. "Thanks, Gabe... I need to tell you something..."

"Not now, Beth!" he called back, taking on two angels at once as a third attacked me from the left, receiving a blade to the gut. I looked across the room, seeing Dad taking the full force of a dark haired female's anger, dueling with her before plunging his blade into her throat.

"It's important, Gabe!" I insisted but he understandably ignored me as the two he was fighting fell the the ground but another three attacked him from all sides. I cornered one of them, slicing at him with my blade as Dad siphoned off the second, grabbing her shoulder before placing his blade in her gut, sending her crashing to the floor. "Gabe, I love you..." I muttered, unsure if he'd hear.

Beside me, Gabe's eyes went wide as he finished off the last one, spinning around to challenge another before realising there were none left; those who weren't dead had flown off and, to be honest, I doubted they would challenge the three of us again.

"Well..." Dad whistled, looking around at the devastation and all of the burnt black wings that spread across the floor and up the walls, "I've got to admit... that was not how I saw my plan playing out..."

"There was a plan?" I asked, wide-eyed and breathing heavy due to my asthmatic vessel, "I thought we were just going with it..."

"That was the plan." I rolled my eyes as he went to stroll around, poking the deceased with the tip of his blade to make sure they were dead.

Gabe turned to me, looking sheepish due to both what happened last time we were face to face and what I'd just said, "D-did you mean that?" 

I couldn't find words as his gaze captivated me so I managed to sigh and nod, looking up into those honey eyes to find some reaction. 'He hates you', the silence said, 'he doesn't love you back'.

Gabe suddenly cut through the doubt as he pulled me into an abrupt hug, pressing his lips, harshly but sweetly, to mine with a hint of desperation in the kiss which deepened within seconds and became more heated. His hands found my ass, lifting me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist and he flashed us across the distance to the wall, pushing my back against it and leaning his entire body into mine, trying to kiss me with every last bit of energy in his body.

The kissing was cut short by someone clearing their throat behind us and I pulled away as I saw Dad standing there expectantly, looking right at me. Gabe continued to kiss me regardless, moving down to my jaw and neck, "Uh, Gabe...?"

"Tell him to get lost," he mumbled against my skin, "I love you, too." He looked up at my face as he said it and it felt like someone had lit a million fireworks in my stomach and they'd all just exploded at once. He took the opportunity and recaptured my lips and I melted into it again, ignoring Dad as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Sam and Dean just arrived at the bunker," he called over, making us both look up, "Ah, thought that'd get your attention..."

"How? We left Dean about an hour ago," I said, confused and still breathing hard. Gabe loved me back... it didn't seem real...

"Time's different in Heaven," he explained, letting me stand but still refusing to let me go which I was perfectly happy with as he whispered, "I really love you." I repeated it, making him smile happily, his eyes shining like liquid gold.

"Yeah, well, if you lovebirds are quite finished..." Dad sighed as Gabe finally turned to face him, mimicking him whilst holding me close to his chest, "Wayhay, you love each other, fun times! But they're calling us and I doubt they'll be happy that they haven't seen any of us in over a week..." 

A week? Gabe wasn't kidding when he said time was different... "Fine, let's go, then..."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Gabe transported the two of us to a parking lot outside of what looked like an old power station. As Dad landed beside us, I rushed over to the Impala parked outside, happy to see both Sam and Dean sat on the front.

"Hey, Liz!" Dean grinned, pulling me into a hug and looking over at Dad and Gabriel, noticing the happy grin on Gabe's face, "You made up, then?"

I nodded, "Yeah, seems kicking some angel butt does great things for a broken relationship... He's still an idiot, though..." I said the last bit a little louder so that Gabe would hear.

"Now, that's just harsh..." he pouted, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms loosely around my waist before kissing my neck.

"What about Henry?" I asked the brothers. Sam shook his head solemnly and I figured there was no need for an explanation as I saw the half sad, half reminiscent look in Dean's eyes, "And Abaddon?"

"Worse than death," Dean smirked and I saw Gabe rooting around in his memories to find out what they did. He always scrunched up his nose when he was doing that...

"Wow," he suddenly said, looking at Dean and nodding approvingly, "That's pretty impressive. I'm proud of you, boys... Of course, I taught you everything you know..." I elbowed him to shut him up and he let out a small 'oof'. "You're so mean to me..."

"I'm Balthazar's daughter, what do you expect?"

"Speaking of Balthazar," the man himself called over, "He's rather scared that we might die since we just slaughtered over a quarter of the heavenly host and he would like to go inside... like, right now... preferably... please..."

"Yes, I think that would be wise," Cas suddenly appeared behind the Impala and headed towards the door, "I assume you have the key?"

"Nice of you to say hello, Cas," Gabe said sarcastically as Dean rolled his eyes. Cas looked at him confusedly, "Forget it. Yes, they have the key... Can we get inside before Balt cries, please?"

Dad stuck his tongue out at him, "Oh, I'm sorry for actually caring about my own life..."

"Ladies!" I intervened as Sam and Dean followed Castiel to the door. Gabe went to say something, "Ah!" Dad smirked and opened his mouth, "No! Zip! Hush! Quiet!" They both looked at me with the exact same childish expression. "Good boys."

"You're so weird," Gabe muttered, holding my waist.

"So are you, angel boy," I mimicked him in the same tone, laughing as we headed inside.


	23. Chapter 22

The bunker was huge. It was huger than huge if that were even possible. I had no idea how rooms so huge could fit beneath such a small building but apparently they could and I wasn't going to dig up the foundations to find out exactly how...

Castiel seemed to be the only one not surprised by any aspect of it, striding over to one of the tables in the centre of the room and sitting down on a chair beside it, "I am assuming you know what all of these scrolls are." He gestured to the shelves which lined the place, stacked high with thousands upon thousands of scrolls both ancient and more modern.

"The Men of Letters' research," Sam said in awe, "Every piece of information collected about every creature in existence... I mean, some of these are over a thousand years old..."

"Some even older..." Gabe added, standing at the entrance to another corridor which looked like it led to a hexagonal room and peering down it, "Bedrooms?"

Dean nodded, "Henry said this used to be a safe house for the Men of Letters." He passed Gabe and headed down the corridor, checking each room both upstairs and down before settling in the doorway of the third around on the upper floor, "This one's mine."

"Why?" 

"Because it's the biggest..." he replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You guys gonna pick yours or...?"

Castiel shook his head, "Only you and Sam require rest. The rest of us will remain in here."

"Uh, speak for yourself..." I countered, following Dean down the corridor, "My vessel is the weakest thing in the world, it needs constant sleep and I feel obliged to give it some..." I looked into each of the rooms, feeling Gabe's presence behind me and hearing his footsteps on the iron stairs as I decided which one I wanted to take. "This one. What do you think?" I asked him, standing in the doorway of a smallish room with a double bed along the far wall, a closet and a mirror hung on the wall by the door.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks, Elizabeth," Dad shouted down to me, "He's not stepping foot in that room!" I rolled my eyes. "I saw that."

"Whatever, it's a decent room anyway," I answered back, taking off my jacket and hanging it in the closet as Gabe remained in the corridor. I raised an eyebrow at him, "Really?"

"Yeah. I figure if I stay on his good side, he won't kill me for dating you..." he replied, shaking his head, "Surprisingly, I don't enjoy being killed... it sucks. Because then I'm dead."

"Oh. So we're dating now, are we?" I asked teasingly, standing a few feet away from him but remaining in the room just out of his reach. 

He went pink, "I don't know... if you want to, I guess..." I couldn't help thinking how adorable he was as he fumbled over his words since he was usually so cocky and on top of the situation. I'd really flummoxed him.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I smiled, stepping forward just enough for him to sweep me off my feet and into a hug. 

"Good," he said, pecking my lips as he held me bridal style and spun around, "because I love you."

"I love you." I loved the feel of the words as they left my mouth - who knew three words could put so much happiness into someone's eyes. The others were still talking away in the main room so he took the opportunity to kiss me again, longer than before but still just as sweet. 

"Glad we're agreed on that," he winked as he set me back on my feet. My breathing was heavy against his neck and he looked down at me in amusement, "You weren't kidding when you said your vessel needed rest... Has it always been like this?"

I nodded, "I've got asthma... I'm a Nephalem with asthma... you realise how pathetic that is?"

"Hey," he cooed, lifting my chin with his fingers, "You're not pathetic... Wait, did you say Nephalem?"

"Yeah, Sam found the name. Apparently, it seems to fit my description." He seemed troubled by the name. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... I guess it kind of makes sense, really..." he saw the confusion plastered on my face and decided to elaborate, "There's an old Enochian folk tale, a legend really, naming the child of 'a son of God' and 'a daughter of Lucifer' as a Nephalem. No one ever believed the story but I guess it's coming true... which makes me your grand uncle as well as your uncle... ew..."

"Yeah, it's probably best if we don't think too much about the family tree..." I cut in, my skin crawling as I pulled away from him. 

"The family tree can burn in Hell," Gabe smirked, placing a hand on the small of my back and pulling me into another kiss.

"Hey! Some people are quite sensitive about that 'round here!" Dean called up to us, making me laugh against Gabe's soft lips, "Oh God, can't you guys get a room..."

"Nope, sorry," I turned to look down at him, prompting Gabe to attack my ear lobe with his teeth, "Dad already ruled against that..." I felt Gabe smirk against my skin as Dean looked back at Dad exasperatedly.

"Are they gonna do this all the time?"

Dad hummed, "Probably. I had to put up with it alone before so I'm glad we can share their constant PDA now... it's mainly Gabriel, he's corrupted my daughter despite the fact I plainly told him not to..." I couldn't see him but I just knew he was shaking his head.

"I corrupted you, did I?" Gabe's breath tickled my neck, making me shiver at his touch.

I smirked, "Most likely." His eyes shot open in surprise as I suddenly pushed him against the wall behind us, melding my lips into his again but with more urgency this time. I raised a hand to run my fingers through his hair but he caught it, entangling his fingers with mine and holding my hand close to his chest.

"Uh, guys?" Sam interrupted after a few minutes, which was becoming a regular occurrence, "Cas has just left, if either of you care?"

"Why?" I asked in surprise, pulling out of Gabe's grasp as he followed me down the stairs like a lost puppy, "Trouble in paradise?" Castiel was known for disappearing but usually he gave an explanation.

"Seemed like it." Dean laughed from the corner as we returned, "Oh, don't let us spoil your fun..."

I shot him a glare, turning my eyes grey as he jumped in shock, "Shut it, Dean..." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Gabe and Dad smirk while Sam grinned at his brother's fear. "That's what I thought."

"Well, if Dean dies at any point, we'll know who the culprit is..." Sam pointed out as I stuck my tongue out at him, "Hey, hey, I'm not the one teasing you..."

"No, you're not," Gabe added, "I don't think Dean will in the future either... Beth could set your room on fire while you sleep..."

I laughed as Dean's eyes went wider and wider, "And I won't hesitate to..." I added a maniacal joker smile at the end to ensure my message hit home. 

It was safe to say that no one was going to object to Gabe and me in the future...


	24. Chapter 23

Castiel didn't return for quite a few Earth hours and that sent a wave of worry through the entire bunker. Dean brought the Impala into a large garage inside the bunker and Sam read through some of the scrolls, trying to find a way to tame my powers while Dad and Gabe waited nervously for Cas. 

Meanwhile, I stayed in my room. I sat on the bed with my back against the wall, staring at the wall ahead of me in thought. After the incident earlier, Dean was now a little edgy around me but it meant he shut up about Gabe and I so I was more than happy - his constant exclamations of 'awesome' were getting on my nerves anyway.

"Hey, what's up?" Sam's voice cut through my thoughts and I turned my head to see him stood in the doorway, leaning against it.

"Just a bit bored," I sighed, sitting up properly and gesturing for him to come and sit beside me on the comforter, "It feels like being in prison being shut away in this bunker..."

He nodded understandingly, slipping his shoes off and pulling his feet underneath him, "I know. I don't really like it either but it's safe and I haven't felt safe in a long time..." I'd noticed he hadn't brought any special belongings with him, just his clothes. I'd left all of my belongings at Dad's...

"Any word from Cas?"

Sam shook his head, shuffling to get comfortable, "Balthazar hasn't heard anything from him but he says it's nothing to worry about. Something about time being different in Heaven?" I nodded, remembering how weird it was coming back to Earth after being up there for a while.

Neither of us spoke for about ten minutes as we had nothing important to say. Silence rang through the bunker - even Dean remained quiet as he wandered the halls impatiently, and I heard Gabe sigh from the library.

Eventually, I'd had enough. I got up and headed down the stairs and through into the main room, everyone looking around at the sudden movement as my footsteps echoed throughout the entire place. Gabe was still sat at one of the main tables, pouring over a pile of scrolls as Dad stood against a pillar in the corner, both of them lifting their heads as I walked in and pulled up a chair, scraping it across the concrete.

"Found anything else?" I asked, receiving an indefinite hum in reply. 

He pointed to a paragraph on the nearest scroll, "It's not really about you but it's about this place. There seems to be some sort of lockdown system in place, controlled by a lever in the room back there," he pointed over to the door beside that which led to the garage, "Locks down the entire bunker, trapping us inside but preventing anything from coming in, even if they have the key."

"Did Cas take the key?" I wrapped my arms loosely around Gabe's neck from behind as he shook his head.

"No, it's here." Dean came up the stairs from the garage and lifted up the ornate key which was strung around his neck on a length of string, "Figured I'd keep it safe... I don't really trust angels. No offence."

"None taken," the three of us replied at the same time, all being sarcastic.

"Okay... creepy," Dean trailed off, coming and sitting across from Gabe, "We got anything else on Nephilims or whatever Liz is?"

"Nephalem," Dad corrected, looking offended as his lip curled upwards, "Nephilims are very common, result of an angel breeding with a human... like I would stoop that low..."

"You bred with a demon? Surely they're worse...?" I kicked Dean's shin beneath the table and he yelped in shock and pain.

"I thought she was an angel, okay? Besides, I got a beautiful daughter out of it so it wasn't that bad," Dad smiled and ruffled my hair as I laughed at Dean's pained expression, "She's got a horrid mother but an, as you would say, 'awesome' father..."

"I hate to fuel your ego but I agree," I said as Dad scoffed, muttering 'Ego? What ego?'

Gabe suddenly cleared his throat, "All I've got so far is a load of bull saying Beth should be dead but since she isn't, that isn't going to help... there is this one thing, though..."

I looked over his shoulder at the part he was pointing at, "What is it?"

His finger lay over the words 'Twilight Manipulation', "It's not very clear but it's something to do with the fact that you're a child of both darkness and light. According to this, you can manipulate both..."

"On what scale?" I asked, intrigued as Sam came in, curious as to what we were discussing.

"Any scale. With the right amount of energy... you could block out the sun..."

I had no answer so Dean did it for me, "The freaking sun? How can she hold all that energy?"

"She can't. Not at the moment, anyway..." Dad placed a hand on my shoulder, "Darling, this is why we need to train you..."

"You keep telling me that. But we've still not got around to it... Gabe taught me how to control my anger-"

"You did?" Dad asked, surprised as Gabe nodded, "Well, I guess that helps..."

"Yeah, it does, but I still don't have any idea how to control my countless other powers... I'm new to this, I've only known about all this supernatural business for about two weeks now..."

"I'm not sure if that makes me more or less scared of you..." Dean took the scroll and read it through to double check, "Probably more... so you're gonna train her?"

Gabe let out a breath and leaned back on the chair, seeming to be the only one not intimidated by the news of my power, "Yeah, probably. We'll start later in the woods out back, make sure we don't draw attention to the bunker..."

Dad was about to argue when a knock at the metal door interrupted him. "Ah," he sighed, "Castiel is back."

Dean went over and unlocked the door, letting the rather flustered angel into the bunker. His hair was matted with blood though there were no wounds - he'd probably already healed them on the way over - and there was fresh blood on his hands. "I may have encountered some resistance..."

"No kidding..." Sam piped up from the doorway, "What happened?"

"Somehow they found out I was in league with you," Cas came further into the room as Dean closed the door behind him, "I had to fight my way out."

He turned to me, pain in his gaze, "They plan to hunt you down and kill you - along with everyone else here..."


	25. Chapter 24

No one spoke. It all began to sink in around me... if this continued, we were all going to die. Every single one of us.

I glanced up at Gabe to find him looking straight back at me, his eyes saying he was considering the same plan as I was. It was crazy and we both knew it, but it would protect our friends... "You think it will work?"

He shrugged, "It's the best plan we've got..." There was a glint of fear in his eyes as he said it.

"What are you two muttering about?" Dean questioned, looking at us oddly as the other three turned to look at us.

Gabe and I exchanged a look before I spoke up, "We're gonna leave. It'll be safer for all of you if we just get out of here..."

"What? No!" Dad argued, jumping up and shaking his head feverishly.

"If the angels find you, you can say we ran away... it won't be that much of a lie..." I reasoned with him.

He was still adamant, "I'll go with you-"

"No," Gabe interrupted calmly, "You need to stay here, stay safe. Journeying on foot will be hard enough with two people, never mind three... they can't sense me and Beth's grace is way too weak for them to notice - believe me when I say it's the safest way to get her out of here."

"Why don't you just fly her somewhere?" Sam asked but Castiel quickly answered that.

"It draws attention to an angel when they use their powers... if Elizabeth is going to train, they don't want any other attention being drawn to them... I think it might work," he nodded towards us. Good to know somebody was on our side.

"But what if it doesn't?" Dad pointed out, getting desperate. I understood he didn't want me to be in danger but there was no other choice. "What if they follow you?"

"We'll tackle that hurdle when we come to it," Gabe replied, "Balt, I promise I will protect her... you know how much it would wreck me if she got hurt..." he wrapped an arm around my shoulders as he spoke, "We'll head north, find a cave or something and hide out there for a while. I'll bring her back when it's safe for her to be around all of you..."

I looked at Dad pleadingly, hoping he'd see sense, "Please, Dad... I don't want you to be at risk because of me..."

He breathed out a reluctant sigh, "Why do you have to be so selfless? I'm not selfless, your mother wasn't selfless - how come you are?"

"It's just who I am." I smiled as a slight smile flashed across his face, "So is that a yes?"

"Yes... just- ...be careful, okay?" 

"Okay. I promise," I got up and hugged him tightly as he sighed into my hair and kissed my head, "I'll stay out of trouble."

Dad glanced at Gabe who nodded too, "I promise, too. She means the world to both of us."

Castiel stepped forward all of a sudden, looking around as if sensing something, "I would go quickly. Heaven is angry at you for killing part of the heavenly host but they believe it was Gabriel who fabricated Balthazar's image." He looked to Dad, "It seems they believe you are innocent. They are coming here... they tracked me to the road outside..."

"For once, I wish I wasn't innocent. Then I'd go with them..." Dad sighed, his eyes darting to me, "Get your things and go. Cas and I will preoccupy them while you go through the woods."

I nodded as Gabe grabbed my hand, pulling me down the hall to my room and throwing my jacket at me. As I shrugged it on, he pressed his lips to mine, hastily and desperately. "For luck..." he muttered.

Hearing Dean pull the entrance door open again, we rushed back out as Dad and Castiel slipped out to slow down the angels; Dad caught my eye on the way, mouthing 'good luck' before disappearing. As we reached it, Sam and Dean both enveloped me into a hug at the same time. "Stay safe," Sam muttered as Dean looked between Gabe and I and said, "Run like hell."

He let the door open just enough for us to sneak out and then we ran. Gabe's hand remained firmly in mine as we legged it up the hill, glancing back to see Dad and Cas stood talking to about five other angels - there was no way we could have taken them all on. The leaves crunched beneath our feet as the soles of our sneakers pounded against the ground at the same relentless beat as my heart, both of us running for each other's lives as well as our own.

We made it about half a mile before I tripped over an uprooted tree, my breathing heavy and wheezing as Gabe halted a few metres in front of me, skidding to a stop as I fell and coming back to pick me up. 

Holding me tightly in his arms, he continued to sprint through the woods, ensuring we were at least a few miles away before we even considered stopping to make it harder for the angels to find us. They wouldn't expect us to stay in the surrounding area anyway and I knew Dad would tell them we'd flown away but it was better to be safe than sorry.

I hugged my body close to Gabe's chest, trying to make it easier for him to run while ignoring the stabbing pain in my twisted ankle. It felt broken but I didn't have time to check it while we dodged through the trees as the sky began to darken with storm clouds.

"It's the angels," Gabe muttered, glancing up in annoyance, "They're angry that they can't find us so they're gonna try and flush us out with a storm... not like its actually gonna work..."

I smiled slightly through the pain, thankful for his confidence since my own was wearing pretty thin. About ten minutes later, the Heavens opened - so to speak - and within a few more minutes of full pelt running, we were both absolutely drenched. Thankfully, we'd already come far enough that we'd reached a tall cliff face, not dissimilar from the one where the cabin was though that was further south.

Gabe slowed down to a jog, placing me back on my feet, "You think you can walk?" I nodded as the rain ran down my face. "Here, hold my arm..." He held out his arm and I took it gratefully, placing most of my weight on my good ankle and trying my best to keep it off of the twisted one as we headed through sparse woods that now surrounded us.

His eyes scanned the rock ahead of us, searching for a crack or a nook we could shelter in. "There," I pointed with my free hand to the spot where I saw a few birds fly out of. As we got closer, we found a fair sized hollow in the cliff side and quickly ducked into it, both thankful to be out of the storm.

Gabe carefully set me down on the rough floor of the cave before helping me out of my jacket and placing it with his to dry, "We should be okay here for the night. Hopefully, they give up before we do."

"We'll never give up," I countered, wincing slightly as he set to work healing my ankle.

"That's the spirit," he sighed, wrapping his arms around me to share his warmth as I shivered, "Stubborn to the very end..."


	26. Chapter 25

As night fell, the air grew cold but Gabriel's shielded grace kept me warm as I lay beside him. "How's the ankle?" he asked, concerned for my health as always.

I wiggled it slightly, feeling only soreness as the muscle stretched beneath my skin, "Much better. I think I'll be able to walk." I went to get up and try but he caught me arm and held me back.

"Give it a little more rest," he instructed, "There's no hurry at the moment, I think Balt has sent them searching in the opposite direction." 

"How long do you think it'll be before we can go back?" I snuggled back into his warm chest as he thought for a second, shrugging.

"There's no way of knowing how determined they are to find you... it could be days, more likely longer..." he said it cautiously as if hoping I wouldn't get mad. I had nothing to be mad about, though; I'd already expected it to be a while... "Are you warm enough?"

I nodded but a slight shiver gave away the fact I was still freezing and wet. Seeing this, Gabe pulled me closer and I turned to face his chest, allowing him to encase me in his arms, "You can't lie to a Trickster, Beth..."

"I can try," I pouted, making him laugh as his chest shook against me, "Besides, you're not a Trickster..."

"No," he considered before his lips turned upwards into a smirk, "I'm better."

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say," I rolled my eyes, shuffling to sit up against the side of the rock as the wind continued to howl outside. The rain was slowly making its way into the cavern, chasing us up against the back wall in our attempts to stay dry, "It's quite calming, don't you think...?"

Gabe hummed, sitting up beside me, "Yeah... speaking of, I reckon we need to start training you now. I'm not getting sidetracked this time."

"Okay," I moved out of the way as he shuffled to sit cross-legged in front of me with his back to the rain, "What do you want me to try first?"

"Well, I know you're very powerful so the little things like telekinesis can be left out since you've proved you can move things..." he laughed awkwardly, recalling the book I threw at Dad, "Let's go for telepathy."

"Reading minds, right?"

He nodded, reaching out and placing his index fingers on my temples, "Concentrate on my head..." I did as he said and he smiled back at me, "Good... now, picture yourself digging inside, deeper and deeper..." He flinched slightly as I did, indicating I was doing something right, "Go deeper until you hear-" 

 _"-you hear me yet? Can you hear me yet, Beth?"_ I jumped in surprise as I heard Gabe's thoughts in my own head. He laughed, "Aha! It worked, you did it!" 

"Wow," I breathed in amazement.

 _"She looks so adorable when she does that-"_ I looked up in shock as he realised I'd heard that thought, "Uh... you weren't meant to hear that..." I giggled as he flushed bright red, "Let's, uh, forget that ever happened... get out of my head!" 

I couldn't help laughing at how annoyed and embarrassed he looked but I did as he said and 'got out' of his thoughts, "I think I'll try that more often." 

"You better not," he huffed, straightening up and looking back into my eyes, "Right... what now...?" He held my gaze before thinking of something, "Oh yeah! Your vessel is weak, right?" I nodded, feeling slightly offended despite it being true, "Omnifarious!"

I tilted my head at him oddly, "Omni-what-ious now?"

"Omnifarious," he established, still leaving me confused, "Changing your form... y'know, so you're stronger?"  

"Ohhh... I thought you had to find a vessel and ask their permission, etc. etc.?"  

"No, not always... especially not with you. Nephalem can supposedly change their appearance to anything," Gabe explained as I began to - slightly - understand, "You have a vessel, of course - the one you're in now - but I guess it's the same process as what I can do... picture the characteristics you want and then click your fingers..."

"Okay..." I pursed my lips in concentration and considered it, "I think I can manage that... like Dad did?" He nodded. "So, like this?" 

I closed my eyes and listed everything I wanted in my head; strength, speed, stamina... I added some decent looks in there just because I could. Then, taking a deep breath, I clicked my fingers... 

Gabe stood and stepped back as my vessel disappeared, leaving me in my true form as my new appearance was knitted and conducted around me. The light that shone from me was blinding but Gabe just watched on in awe, the light unable to affect the eyes of an archangel. It was as good as shining a beacon and saying 'here I am' but he'd already ensured there were no angels around to notice it and it died down only mere seconds after it had begun. 

I opened my eyes again after a few more seconds passed and found Gabe looking at me with pure surprise on his face, "Well, that was unexpected..."

"What?" I asked, worried by his reaction - did I have too many limbs? Had it gone horribly wrong? 

"There's nothing wrong... it's just... well, look down..."

I glanced down, expecting to find myself naked or something but I was still dressed in the clothes I was wearing before. What I didn't bargain for was the muscles in my forearms or the span of my hands...

I looked up at Gabe again before sighing, "Well, that's just sexist..." My new vessel was male. 

Gabe sniggered and I gave him a warning look, "What? It's quite funny, actually..."

"Not to me!" I argued, thankful that my voice wasn't too deep, "This just makes everything awkward..."

"Well, to be fair, I'm not technically male..." he pointed out and I looked at him in confusion, "Angels are ethereal beings, we have no gender. Only my vessel is male and I've had this guy for about two millennia, I'm kinda attached to him..."

"So you're okay with this?" 

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked, holding his hands upwards in search of an answer, "You're still you and I still love you..." He leaned forward and kissed me softly just to prove it, "You're taller now, anyway, I was getting tired of leaning down..." 

I laughed, pulling his lips back to mine and kissing him again just to test out how my new form functioned, "It's still sexist... why can't a girl be strong and agile?"

He shrugged, "Perhaps there were no strong girls available? I don't see why it matters so much to you either... you're genderless, too..."

"Good point," I hummed, realising how petty I was being. It was only a vessel, it didn't really matter if I was still the same person inside, "It doesn't matter." 

Gabe smiled at my acceptance of the situation, "Nope," he kissed me again, running his hand through my new shorter hair, "Now, let's get on with this training... no more distractions..." 

"I'm not promising anything..." 


	27. Chapter 26

The new vessel was certainly stronger as we continued training until dawn broke. In that time, I'd harnessed the power to manipulate objects, fly short distances and I'd even managed to call off the relentless rain. Gabe was impressed to say the least, his eyes widened every time I mastered something within minutes of being taught it and by the time we heard the first birds tweeting, he didn't even bat an eyelid as I picked up super-speed in less than a minute.

"I think that's all I've got, babe," he mused, wrapping his arms around me from behind after I sped back to him, "Are we ready to get going?"

I nodded, seeing the sun rising outside the cave and knowing we only had a matter of hours - maybe less - before the angels would see the influx of angelic/demonic activity in the area and come to investigate, "Yeah, where are we going to head to?"

"Nearest town?" I shrugged at the suggestion, grabbing my jacket from where it had been drying and tossing Gabe his own which he caught and pulled on. 

"It's probably our best bet," I took his hand as he helped me down the rocks outside, jumping the last few feet and steadying myself on his shoulder before he took my hand and we began walking. We kept close to the cliff, staying out of sight the best we could beneath the thin canopy that the trees offered in the hopes that they would shield us from any angels.

"I meant to ask you before, how are you doing?" Gabe asked after about half an hour of walking in silence, "This has all kinda happened in a rush..."

"I'm fine..." I breathed, squeezing his hand to reassure myself more than him, "I've got you with me, haven't I?"

He looked across at me and smiled as he looked into my eyes, "Y'know, your eyes are still the same as they were before... still beautifully blue, just like you..."

"You're so cheesy, it's almost unbelievable," I shook my head in disbelief, rolling my eyes though he didn't see.

"Almost? I must aim higher..." he joked, snaking his arm around my shoulder, "See? You're perfect height now."

He was right; we were both about the same height which made it much more comfortable for him to have an arm around me. I grinned, "Yeah, I think I'll keep this vessel..."

"I've got no complaints."

Gabe winked at me before picking me up and putting me on his back, catching me off guard as he hooked his arms around my denim-clad legs, "Hey!"

"What?" he asked innocently, looking up at me with puppy eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck and played with his hair, "You're my baby, I have the right to carry you..."

"I don't remember reading that in the imaginary contract I imagined signing to give you these imaginary rights," I laughed as it took him a minute to take in everything I'd said.

"Well, have a little imagination," he raised his eyebrows earnestly, pouting when I poked his cheek, "I will bite you again. Remember what happened last time?"

"You say that like last time was a bad thing..." I smirked against the back of his head as we ventured down a small path that led from the cliff through the trees. Up ahead there was a sign that read 'Red Cloud, Nebraska'. "We must've crossed the state line a way back."

Gabe hummed, "Seems like it... I say we find a motel and base ourselves there for the moment since I can't sense any angels nearby. That's what the Winchesters do, right?" I nodded. "Well, there's our plan then." He hitched me further up his back with his hands since I was slowly sliding down.

We lapsed back into silence after that, him continuing to carry me without a hint of complaining as I twirled his hair in my fingers. Eventually, as we came to what looked like the main road, he carefully set me back on my feet and took my hand again.

I looked around as our footsteps echoed eerily on the asphalt, "It seem a little quiet to you?" He knew I was right; the street was completely empty except for the two of us and every store front was dark - it was creepy, to say the least...

"There's darkness here..." he muttered a reply, subconsciously holding me closer to his side, "but we've got nowhere else to go... at least there's no angels..."

There was a motel halfway down the road so we hastily headed across to it, trying to remain inconspicuous despite us being the only beings there. Only one car was parked in the lot and that seemed to belong to the owner, a sullen-faced man who looked like he'd wasted away quite a few years back and was now just a walking skeleton.

"Uh, we'd like a room, please?" Gabe peered at the guy, waiting for some sign of a reply. He didn't get one, the man just threw a key at us and looked at us in disgust, muttering something about 'kids these days'.

I gave Gabe a confused look as he mouthed 'homophobe' and looked pointedly towards zombie-face. It sunk in as I noticed he was narrowing his eyes at our joined hands so just to spite him, I leaned forward and kissed Gabe on the cheek, smirking against his skin as the man looked away with a sneer.

"Come on, baby, let's get to our room," Gabe winked at me, pulling me up the stairs as he spoke in an over the top stereotypical voice, "It's gonna be so fun!"

I played along, skipping up the steps behind him, until we rounded a corner and were out of sight of the guy's judging eyes... then we fell apart with laughter. Gabe couldn't even stand straight as he fell against me in a fit of giggles and I myself struggled to stay upright, pulling him along with me and finding our room before letting him go on the couch. Looking around, I noticed the owner had given us a twin room - most likely to stop us being 'too gay' in his establishment but that was soon fixed as Gabe helped me push the two beds together.

"Seriously?" Gabe raised an eyebrow while shoving the furniture around, "How hateful can a guy be? The look on his face when you kissed me, though..." he laughed again at the memory, "priceless..."

I sighed before walking over to the window, the view outside wiping the grin from my face as I remembered why we were even here. Then, I noticed something; a man, dressed all in black, just stood in the middle of the street. I was about to call Gabe over when another guy appeared next to him, and another, and another, until the entire street was filled with them, all looking in the same direction. "Uh, Gabe?"

"Yes, honey?" he stopped laughing for a moment, coming to stand by me before cussing in Enochian, "Damn..."

"W-what are they?" I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer.

Gabe let out a deep breath, "Reapers..."


	28. Chapter 27

"Reapers?" I recalled reading something about them in one of the books at the cabin, "But don't they usually-"

"Only appear when someone's gonna die? Yeah, that's their job... I haven't seen this many since-" Gabe stopped, his face going pale as the sheets on the bed behind us.

"Since what? What is it?"

"Detroit." He didn't elaborate but I remembered seeing something on the news a few years back - mass killings in Detroit; husbands and sons killing their families and burying them in a mass grave before killing themselves too... No one ever knew what possessed them to do it and, by the look on Gabe's face, I guessed it was something - or someone - pretty terrifying. "How?" He began pacing, completely blanking me out. "How is he back? He can't be-"

"How is who back?" I demanded, forcing him to stop by putting my hands on his shoulders.

He looked up at me, guilt and worry drowning his face as he gulped, whispering, "Lucifer..."

I was shocked beyond belief as the sincerity of his answer, expecting him to burst out laughing, declare it was a joke or something... but he didn't. "Wait... the Lucifer? The devil? Prince of Darkness and all that jazz?" Gabe nodded and I swore loudly, "Why is he here?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," he replied, pulling me close to him and squeezing me tight in his arms, "...I think it might be to do with you..."

My eyes went wide, "Me? Why does Lucifer want me?"

"I told you before, you're the perfect weapon... beyond perfect for Luci... He hates Hell almost as much as he despises Heaven - you have the power to destroy both... I don't understand why he needs the reapers, though..." He looked around, puzzled as he left me to take in the information he'd bombarded me with - Lucifer wanted to use me? He wanted me to destroy Heaven and Hell...?

"Maybe he needs the bodies?" I offered as Gabe racked his brains, trying to figure out the reason behind Lucifer's apparent madness, "Does he need a ritual? Why did all those people die last time?"

Gabe turned to me, "He was summoning Death, with a capital D that is," he clarified as my jaw dropped, "But this... this is just drawing attention to hims-" He stopped, realisation dawning on his face, "...That's it... he's drawing attention to himself because he knows Sam and Dean will come running and he thinks you might be with them..."

"And we've walked straight up to his front door..." I concluded, saying what we were both thinking, "We've handed ourselves over to him without even realising it..."

Gabe sighed, "Yeah, pretty much. Let's just hope he doesn't know we're here... that jewellery won't work against him, it won't hide you..."

"You mean-?"

"He's probably already on his way... even if he isn't, he'll be here before we have chance to get away..." he noticed my terrified face and guided me over to the bed, cuddling up with me against the headboard as I shook with fear and anxiety, "He'll have to go through me first. You know that, Beth?" 

I nodded against his chest, "Don't do anything stupid..."

"Me? Stupid? What a preposterous idea..." he chuckled, kissing the top of my head, "Do you think we have time to make a plan?" He sounded hopeful but there was an underlying tone of defeat in his voice.

"We could call Sam and Dean?" I offered, "Maybe they could distract him while we escape?" I guessed anything was worth a shoot when Satan was hunting you down...

"We could..." Gabe mused, pursing his lips in thought, "Okay, call them. I can't sense Luci at the moment so he can't be too close."

I nodded, shuffling beneath him to get the slip of paper Sam had pressed into my palm out of my jeans. Finding it, I straightened it out and crawled over him to the phone on the bedside table, anxiously dialling the number and waiting as it rang, each tone making me more and more nervous.

"Hello?" Sam's voice reverberated through the receiver.

"Sam? It's Beth-"

"What?" He clearly didn't believe me due to my voice change, "This isn't Beth's voice, asshole... who are you? What have you done to her?" He was getting angrier by the second and I could hear Dad and Dean in the background as Gabe reached over and plucked the phone from my grasp.

"Hey, Sam? Yes, it's me - calm down you idiot... It was Beth, she switched bodies... Of course, she can do that! She's a Nephalem as you kindly pointed out before..." I tried my best to hear what Sam was saying at the other end but no matter how hard I strained my ears I could only make out confused mumbles until the phone seemed to be passed to someone else. "Oh, calm down, Balthy... your daughter is temporarily your son. That's not the main issue here!"

"Give it here," I motioned for him to give me the receiver back and he did, probably tired of Dad's inevitable ranting, "Dad?"

"Elizabeth? So, it's true?" he asked, seeming to calm down slightly, "I can sense her voice, it's definitely her." He directed the last bit at one of the guys at the other end.

"Dad, we don't have time," I stressed, hoping he'd hear how urgent this was, "We're in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Gabe thinks that Lucifer is here, he's tempting Sam and Dean to come because he thinks I'm with you lot-"

"Lucifer?!" It suddenly went silent in the background at his end. "Did you say Red Cloud?" His voice faded and I guessed he turned away from the receiver, "Wasn't that where those murders were?"

I heard someone's faded reply before Sam was back on the phone - what was this? Pass the phone? "There's been a lot of murders there, we were gonna head up..."

"We know Sam, we can see all the reapers from our window. Lucifer is here, he wants me and we've walked straight into the trap... We need help," I pleaded, desperation filling my voice as Gabe shushed me, trying to calm me down.

"Dean, get the car... Now!" I could hear Sam yell to his brother, "We're on our way... Hang in there..."

He hung up as there was a knock at the door. Placing the phone back in it's holder, I went to answer it but Gabe pushed me back, motioning for me to stay behind him. He went over and opened the door, wincing at the creak before we both let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the motel owner.

"Who are you people? Satanists?" he spat, wide eyed as I realised he'd probably been listening in on the entire conversation, "You disgust me... I refuse to have any homosexual rituals in my motel. I want you ou-" 

He barely finished his sentence before he keeled over, blood spewing from his mouth and staining the already stained carpet. "Oops," a voice from the end of the hallway said and I turned to find a tallish man wearing an unbuttoned shirt over a t-shirt and jeans, "I slipped..."

"Hello, Luci..." Gabe said through gritted teeth as the guy waved.

"Gabey, I'm home!"


	29. Chapter 28

"Aw, come on, crack a smile," Lucifer cooed as Gabe glared steely at him, positioning himself in front of me. The newest arrival walked down the hall towards us, carefully stepping over the corpse of the man he'd just killed, "Pity... I would have enjoyed torturing him..."

Gabe looked at him in disgust, "You just killed a man in cold blood and you want to cause him more pain?"

"He was a homophobe, Gabriel!" he replied with a hint of anger in his voice, "He despised my greatest 'supposed' creation... I'm rather proud of them myself, though I had no part in their making - no one can kick up a storm more than a few of 'The Gays'. That would be great name for a band, by the way..."

I laughed unintentionally at the thought of 'The Gays' headlining with 'The God Squad' and Gabe gave me a look that told me to shut up.

"I like you," Lucifer looked down at me, folding his arms, "You know a funny thing when you hear it..."

"How come I couldn't sense you?" Gabe butted in and Lucifer turned to him with a bored expression on his face.

"You're not the only archangel who can read, Gabriel. I also have a copy of that little ritual you and Balthazar performed, only mines stronger... because I'm older," he said matter-of-factly before turning back to me, "Anyway, you, my friend, intrigue me beyond anything... the fact you're standing in front of me right this second baffles me... Do you have any idea how you're managing that?"

"I don't know..."

Gabe opened his mouth to say something but Lucifer hushed him, "Oh, calm down, please... It's cold enough in here already without your icy glare..." I hadn't noticed the temperature before but as he pointed it out, I shivered involuntarily. "Sorry, that's my fault..." he apologised, "Most people assume I burn hot but it's quite the opposite, in fact."

"I know why you're here," I plucked up the courage to say, ignoring Gabe's mutters of protest beside me. 

Lucifer looked at me in surprise, "You do?"

"Yes," I gulped, feeling a lump forming in my throat, "You want to use me as a weapon... to destroy Heaven and Hell..."

He seemed to consider it for a moment, placing a finger on his chin, "Now, that's where you've got me all wrong..." Gabe looked up in surprise and shock. "You see, while I may hate Heaven... and Hell, for that matter... I don't want to destroy them..."

"You don't?" Gabe furrowed his brow at Lucifer's unexpected answer.

"No, I don't. Where else would I get my entertainment from if Heaven and Hell didn't exist?" he posed, shrugging, "However-" Gabe's breathing hitched again, "Are you gonna do that everytime I say something different, Gabriel? Because if you are, it's gonna get very annoying very quickly..."

He shook his head and let out the breath as Lucifer looked at him expectantly, "Sorry... I just expected you to be trying to kidnap Beth or something..."

"Kidnapping? I'm not Crowley..." I didn't know who Crowley was but by Lucifer's tone I gathered they weren't best buddies. "I merely want to propose an arrangement, brother... a friendship offering, if you will?" He turned to me, "As I was about to say, I want you to work with me to bring down Michael..."

"Why Michael?"

"I don't know, Gabriel... Maybe because he threw me into the cage, because he tortured me for centuries because Dad like me more than him?" The malice in his voice faded as he turned to look Gabe in the eyes, "Maybe because he tortured you after I fell... and forced me to watch your screams of agony while he tore you to shreds... punishing you for what I did because he thought you might get the same idea..."

I noticed Gabe had gone very quiet as Lucifer recalled their past. I didn't believe it at first but the tears that rolled down from his whiskey eyes told me that Luci spoke the truth as I pulled him into a tight hug, shushing him as he wept into my shoulder.

"You didn't tell her," Lucifer clarified, seeing the shock in my eyes and somehow knowing that inside I saw myself as female, "You have no idea the pain I felt... knowing it was my fault... You were always a good brother to me, Gabriel, even when the others turned against me... you were willing to see past that..."

"Michael refused to stop until I confessed hatred towards you," Gabe looked up at Lucifer who now seemed a lot more human than I'd expected... I felt pity for him... "I refused... then, I ran away and Balthazar agreed to hide me - I still don't understand, though... Why did you start the apocalypse? Why did you kill me?"

"I knew you would come back somehow, brother," Lucifer said, a fond smile ghosting over his lips, "As for the apocalypse... well, I had to fight Michael somehow, didn't I? The opportunity was as good as handed to me - I couldn't waste that chance..."

"Wait," he turned to me as I remembered something, "You killed this whole town to get us here? Why didn't you just call for Gabe?"

"Oh, it's Gabe now, is it?" Lucifer laughed, his cunningness re-emerging after a sad moment of recollection, "I didn't murder this town. In fact," he gestured to the dead guy at his feet, "he's the only one I actually did kill. The rest of them all got a surprise holiday in the Bahamas for the entire week, courtesy of the Devil himself..."

"But... the reapers?" I asked, still confused.

Lucifer smiled, kindly this time instead of with his usual smarminess, "I burned a few hundred underground KKK members on a bonfire on the outskirts of town, mainly because they were pissing me off but also because I needed a way to get you here. Seems now that it wasn't necessary but, hey, I killed some assholes so everyone wins... no one will thank me for it, though... they're never grateful these humans..." He sighed in annoyance before looking back at the both of us, "So will you work with me on this?"

Gabe thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yeah. I've been wanting to kick Mike's ass for centuries... never had the power for it, though..." He looked to me, "You in?"

Am I in to work alongside Satan and kill Gabe's archangel brother? "Yeah, sure. Never thought I'd say this but I'm on Lucifer's side in this."

The man himself chuckled, "You're gonna go far, kid. Not many people would trust me when they'd just met me..."

"I can relate to you, I guess," I thought about all the things my mother had sent those hounds to do to me as Lucifer looked down at me, half curious and half worried.

"I would've preferred there to be a different reason for your trust in me," he said, noticing the saddened looks in both mine and Gabe's eyes, "Come on, let me come in and you can tell me all about it... Maybe we can get justice for you, too?"

Just the suggestion made me buzz - could Lucifer really be the help I needed to pay my mother back for what she did?


	30. Chapter 29

"Your mother did that?" Even Lucifer seemed shocked at my story as he perched on the edge of the dresser across the room from us. We'd let him inside about ten minutes before and I'd spent the time explaining everything that Dad saved me from.

I nodded, "Yeah. Of course, I had no idea it was her... My vessel's mother was convinced I was possessed by Satan..." I couldn't help laughing at the irony.

"By me?" he questioned, his signature smirk returning as he placed a hand to his chest, "I'm hurt... I'm not that mean, am I?"

"Before today, I would've gone with yes..." I mused, making him laugh as Gabe got up beside me and went over to the window, "What is it?"

"Sam and Dean," Luci grimaced at the mention of the Winchesters and I guessed there probably had a history. Gabe turned back to him as I heard a car door close in the street below us, "You wanna stay here? Explain everything to them?" The uncertainty in his voice told me he knew they wouldn't believe us that easily.

"No," Lucifer replied calmly, straightening up and hooking his thumbs in his pockets, "I'll go until they leave. Don't mention that I was here or they'll insist on hunting me down - they always do..." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'll be back when they're gone."

With that, he was gone, and when I opened the door I saw he'd taken the corpse with him, removing all the evidence that he was ever there. Hurried footsteps coming up the stairs were soon followed by worried shouts down the hallway as both Sam and Dean saw me stood in the doorway and came running towards me.

"Liz?" Dean asked cautiously, clearly taken aback by my new form. I nodded and he abruptly enveloped me into a hug, "Oh, thank God, we thought Lucifer might have-"

He was cut off by a cough behind me as Gabe leaned against the doorframe, "Well, he hasn't. I can't feel him yet so he's not close... is Castiel with you?" 

 _"Could he sense-?"_ I asked mentally and Gabe nodded discreetly at me when they weren't looking. Damn, we hadn't taken him into account... he could give everything away...

"No, he stayed at the bunker," Sam replied as we exchanged a relieved look, "We didn't think Balthazar was really trustworthy enough to leave alone..." He looked at me cautiously in case he'd offended me.

I chuckled, "I don't blame you..." If they'd left Dad alone, the place would be wrecked because he 'got bored' - a trait I think I picked up from him. 

"Come in," Gabe gestured, looking around carefully as if he was scared Lucifer might be coming, "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves..." 

 _"Wow, he's a pretty decent actor..."_ I flinched slightly as Lucifer's voice echoed inside my head, _"Oh, hi. Probably should've mentioned I was gonna drop in. Hope I haven't interrupted any important thoughts..."_ he went quiet for a moment as I tried to stop him digging any further, " _ooh... now then, that's very naughty, Beth..."_

"Shut up..." I replied as he chuckled, trying my best not to blush as he delved into my daydreams about Gabe. No one was supposed to know about those... 

Sam blew out a breath, drawing me back to the situation at hand, "Is it me or is it cold in here?"

"The heating is busted in here," Gabe quickly covered as Dean narrowed his eyes at him.

"But it's sixty degrees out...?" He looked between the two of us with suspicion clear in his hard gaze. "What's going on here?" 

I thought fast, "Uh... well, I got a little worked up before you two arrived and, uh..." I stopped and faked an awkward cough, "well, you know... I'm apparently cold when that happens..." I blushed pink purposefully to feed the lie as Dean's eyes widened. 

"Oh... um, well, okay..." he choked, looking over at Gabe who blushed, too, before giving me a look that said 'really?'. I silently thanked him for playing along. 

 _"Nice save,"_ Lucifer commented in my head, _"I mean, it's my fault you had to cover up but... nice save..."_

_"I hate you..."_

_"No, you really don't..."_ I could almost hear the smirk in his voice. 

"Beth, you okay? You've gone pink..." Sam brought me back to the real world again. Gabe was looking at me oddly, he probably knew what was going on in my head already... 

"Yeah..." I breathed, looking up at him before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. I motioned for the two of them to sit and they did, taking up the chairs near the window, "So, what are you planning to do now? Lucifer isn't here at the moment so we're safe, right?"

"It seems like it... strange though..." Dean hummed, leaning back on the chair as it creaked beneath his weight, "You two are the only things left in this town and he hasn't found you yet... it's a little off, don't you think?"

 "Yeah," I agreed, knowing that arguing would make me more suspicious, "we thought that, too, but we can't go and search the town... we'd be walking further into the trap..." I hoped they'd catch my drift so I didn't have to tell them what to do.

"We'll go and scout around," Sam announced, saying exactly what I wanted him to say, "Stay inside... we'll be back soon..." 

Gabe and I nodded as they got up and walked over to the door, "Be careful, he could be anywhere..."

"We know... we understand your concern, Gabe, but we've faced him before and sent him back to Hell. I'm sure we can do it again." Dean's harsh tone scared me, leaving me wondering what had happened the last time they'd come face to face as they left, closing the door behind them.

Gabe let out a sigh before raising an eyebrow at me, "Seriously? Raising the sex card?"

"What? What else was I supposed to say?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head, "You were no help..."

"No help? At least I didn't put the image in their heads of us doing the dirty..." He looked away in disgust, shuddering, "You don't even wanna know the things Dean was imagining... You're lucky that Luci was in your head but you could've made it a little more discreet..." He seemed angry at first but his face soon cracked into a smile, "The look on their faces, though..."

 _"Uh, speaking of Luci... can I come back now? Are those douchewads far enough away?"_ Lucifer's voice came back into my mind, making me laugh. 

Ignoring Gabe for a minute, I wandered back to the window and watched as the Impala drove away and turned the corner. I waited a few seconds until they were definitely away, _"Yeah, you can come back now..."_


	31. Chapter 30

**Warning: really shit smut - I mean it, you've been warned...**

"Really, Gabe..." Lucifer sighed as he appeared by the dresser again, acting as though the Winchesters hadn't even been there, "The things going through your girlfriend's head..."

I pulled a face, sticking my tongue out at him which he kindly did back, his forked tongue shocking me at first but, then again, he was the Devil and nothing much could surprise me about him anymore...

"I didn't give you permission to root through my mind," I argued as he laughed.

"Oh, I don't need permission, honey..." he smirked slyly, crossing his ankles, "You really should do something about all those daydreams, though..." He raised an eyebrow at me suggestively.

"Hey!" Gabe cut in, looking between Luci and I, "You're not here to flirt with my girlfriend!"

"Not my fault that your girlfriend is thinking some dirty, dirty thoughts about you, little brother..." Lucifer tutted, shaking his head as my face turned scarlet. Gabe's head turned quickly to me, wide-eyed as he saw me blushing, "Oops..." Luci said innocently, "Was he not supposed to know?"

I looked over at Gabe whose mouth was open slightly in shock, "It... uh..." I could feel him trying to sieve through my thoughts himself and I was getting more flustered by the second as Lucifer chuckled.

"You want me to give you guys some alone time?" he asked teasingly, the smirk remaining permanent on his face, "'Cause I can do tha-"

"Shut up," I muttered and he closed his mouth firmly as I turned back to face him, mimicking zipping his lips, "How are we gonna get Michael where we want him to be?" 

"Are you su-?" I glared at him furiously and he held his hands up in surrender, "Okay... well, I hadn't really got that far yet in my planning... I wasn't really sure you'd agree to help but since you did, we'll need to lure him there..." he looked over at Gabe who still looked slightly taken aback, "We'll need bait..."

"You're not using Beth as bait," Gabe replied adamantly before he could even finish. 

"Wouldn't dream of it. You two have got important things to do, don't want her dying with those thoughts..." Luci winked at me and I swear to God I almost strangled him as my heart beat increased, "We're gonna need your Trickster skills, Gabriel. He'll see straight through anything I place in front of him... he was in the cage with me for the past year and believe me when I say I tried..." 

Gabe nodded, still glancing my way every so often, a strange look in his eyes. "I understand... I think I could conjure something up to confuse him, he always did fall for my tricks..."

"Don't worry, Gabriel," Luci told him as his voice faded into sadness and for just a moment it was clear that he cared a lot for his little brother, "We'll get revenge for everything he's ever done... I've never lied to you, have I?"

"No, you haven't... Uh, Luci, is there somewhere you could go for a while?" Lucifer smirked again, looking between the two of us and nodding. Within seconds he was gone and Gabe turned to me, the glint in his eyes making it hard for me to breathe, "Do you, uh, still have your old vessel? Y'know, to change to...?"

 "Yeah..." I breathed and he nodded. I snapped my fingers and my vessel morphed back into the old Beth... the real me...

Gabe smiled, his eyes hooded as he looked at me. Before I knew it, he sped across the distance between us and pushed me roughly onto the mattress behind me, attacking my neck with feathered kisses and his hot breath. I moaned involuntarily as his hands explored my body, our lips locking as he pressed me into the bed with uncharted longing and want.

"G-Gabe..." I stuttered, feeling something hard press against my thigh as the sense of neediness in my gut swelled, "Are you sure?" He nodded against my lips as he captured them again and I moaned while he worked to remove my t-shirt, only breaking the kiss to pull it over my head.

"I'm more than sure..." he let out a groan as my hands slid beneath his own shirt, teasing at the top of his jeans as he fumbled to undo his belt buckle, "I want you..." 

His words fuelled the fire inside of me as I ran my fingers over his abs, tearing his shirt in my impatience and throwing it to the floor. I slid off my jeans, leaving me only in my underwear and soon his were off, too, and I sat back on my heels to admire his almost naked body. 

He didn't give me long to look as he reconnected our lips, exploring my mouth with his tongue as he pushed me onto the pillows, unhooking my bra with his expert fingers and letting it join the rest of our clothes on the floor...

 -------------(le awkward time skip because writer feels awkward)-------------- 

Still breathing deeply despite having changed back to my newer form, I cuddled against Gabe's chest, hearing his heart still pounding against his ribcage as I decided to admit something, "...You know... that was my first time..." 

He looked down at me in surprise, "Really?" I nodded. "Well, after that, I can assure you there's gonna be a second and a third and a fourth and a fifth-" I giggled as he continued, cutting him off with a kiss before he got to ten. He bit my lip teasingly as we melted into it but we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in," I called, expecting it to be Lucifer but the Winchesters walked in, "Oh, hi guys..."

Dean gave me a strange look, narrowing his eyes at me like he always seemed to do, "Liz... your eyes are grey..."

Gabe chuckled beside me. "You weren't gonna tell me?"

"Nope..."

**That was so embarrassing to write but they had to do it for plot purposes.**


	32. Chapter 31

After I'd managed to change my eye colour back, I turned to Dean, sharply elbowing Gabe in the stomach, "Any news? Did you find him?"

Sam shook his head and I mentally sighed in relief although keeping my face straight, "We reckon he skipped town... don't think he even noticed you two." He seemed a bit uneasy about it but didn't say anything - I don't think he wanted to worry us.

"Good... I guess we'll keep moving, then..." Gabe replied, rubbing his side where I'd jabbed him, "Thank you, boys."

"No problem," they both said simultaneously, exchanging a look of annoyance as Gabe and I laughed. "We'll head back to the bunker," Sam sighed, hunching his shoulders with his hands in his pockets, "Call us if you need anything..." 

We nodded gratefully as they left, staying quiet until we heard the engine sound fade away down the road. As soon as we couldn't hear it anymore, Gabe burst out laughing.

"You dick..." I picked up the pillow behind me and thumped him with it, "I hate you... Why didn't you tell me my eyes were grey?!" He swatted the pillow away from his face but I continued my attack, completely ignoring Lucifer as he flew in behind us.

"Am I interrupting something?" he called over, eyebrows raised. I grabbed the other pillow and aimed it at his head but he ducked and threw it back at me, knocking me over with the sheer force of it as he and Gabe both laughed.

"I hate both of you!" I huffed, sitting up and hitting Gabe one more time as he pouted, "Don't you try the cute look with me, Gabriel, you didn't tell me!"

"Hey now, what have I ever done to you to deserve hatred?" Luci questioned, folding his arms and tilting his head expectantly.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," I replied in annoyance, hearing him chuckle as I turned again on Gabe, "You still haven't answered me!"

He sighed through his laughter, sitting up and ruffling my hair, "I would if you gave me the chance... I didn't tell you mainly because I thought you knew. And because it was hot..."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the answer, "I'm guessing you guys had a good time, then?" 

I snapped around to face him, shocked by his assumption, "That's none of your business..." I felt my face turning red against my will.

"Honey, your mouth says no but your face is telling me yes," he smirked. I knew he was teasing me so I tried to ignore him. "Oh, are you ignoring me now? Is that what this has come to?"

"Leave her alone, Luci," Gabe pulled me into his side as his brother chuckled, "The Winchesters think you've left town so they won't be back anytime soon... you have any idea where or how to get Mike down here?"

We both looked over to him as he sighed, jumping up to sit on top of the dresser, "I've got a plan..."

\-----------------

"You really think he'll fall for that?" I asked as he concluded what was one heck of a plan.

"If I know Michael - and, believe me, I know Michael - he'll take any chance he can get to put me back in my cage. If he thinks I have 'the abomination' with me, it'll only make him come down quicker and try to throw us both in there," Luci explained, swinging his legs in front of him, "I think it has a good shot at working... What do you think, brother?"

I looked over at Gabe who had moved to sit cross-legged in one of the chairs by the window while I remained sat on the bed. "If you have faith that it will work then I'll help you..."

"Well, I wouldn't say it was 'faith' exactly..." Lucifer replied, his mouth angling upwards into that annoying smirk once more, "but thank you." He looked to me, "How about you, Be-" he trailed off as his eyes passed over me. 

"What? What's wrong?" I questioned, taken aback by his sudden silence "Are the Winchesters coming back?" My gaze went to the window, expecting to hear the Impala pulling up or something.

"No, it's not them..." the poor guy looked like he'd seen a ghost - maybe he had, I expected everything nowadays. He shot a scared look over to Gabe who hadn't really been paying attention, "Um... Gabriel?"

They were quiet after that and I could tell they were having a mental conversation. I tried to tap into it but hit an invisible wall, unable to break through it and listen in. "Guys? Guys, what's going on?"

I didn't get an answer, just a few worried glances now and again until Gabe looked over at me. He came over and sat beside me on the bed, peering at me like I was in a zoo. I huffed at him, "Sorry, Beth... I need you to go back to your old vessel again for me..."

"Why?" I asked in confusion, looking between the two of them.

"Just do it, please..." His tone scared me as he glanced nervously at Lucifer who shared his concern about whatever was going on, "I'm telling you... our senses our clouded..."

Lucifer shook his head, "My senses have never been wrong... Beth, please, just change back. We need to clarify something..."

Reluctantly, I did what they said, concentrating hard before morphing my appearance back to the one I grew up in. "Damn..." Gabe breathed out, covering his face with his hands.

"I told you, I'm never wrong," Luci sighed, ignoring my confused look.

"Never wrong about what?!" That got both of their attentions and Gabe took one hand away from his face to hold my hand, tighter than he ever had before. "Gabe, what the heck is wrong?"

"N-nothing's wrong..." he struggled, not able to look me in the eyes. I crossed my arms stubbornly, glaring at him. "It's just that... uh... we angels can sense a lot of things at the moment they happen and... uh..."

Luci rolled his eyes, the colour seemingly returning to his face as he accepted whatever situation this was, "You're pregnant, Beth."

I laughed, "Yeah, right..." The solemn look on their faces halted my laughter, "That's... not possible..."

Gabe wrapped an arm around me as I began to shake in fear and shock, "I thought that, too... but when I look at you, I can sense two people. Or, at least, one person and an embryo..."

"No..." I looked over at Lucifer, tears running down my face, "It's not true..."

"I'm afraid it is..."


	33. 32

Gabe held me as the truth began to sink in. The more I thought about it, the more I could sense it myself... I had a child growing inside of me... the child of an angel and a Nephalem...

"We've created another abomination, haven't we?" was the first question I asked after about ten minutes of thought.

They both looked at me in surprise, probably expecting me to burst out in sobs or something but I remained calm. "Probably," Gabe sighed, pulling me into his side and stroking my hair with his hand, "I'm sure I've managed worse in my time..."

"Even if you haven't, I have..." Lucifer chimed in and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what he'd done in the past that he thought was bad. The guy thought killing people was an okay thing to do but I wasn't gonna argue with Satan.

"My Dad's gonna kill you..." I looked up at Gabe through the strands of hair that'd fallen into my eyes.

"We've created an abomination and you're pregnant and you still care about what your Dad's gonna do..." he trailed off as realisation hit him, "Shit, you're Dad's gonna kill me..."

I laughed into his shirt, "I'm sure he won't kill you that much... besides, it's my fault, too..."

"You're not the one he's gonna blame, Beth!" he cried, wide-eyed and breathing manically, "He's gonna ki-"

"No offence, that doesn't matter now," Lucifer interrupted him calmly, turning to me, "Since your vessel is human, we have nine months before we have to worry about anything... in the meantime - Michael? Ring any bells?"

"Oh, shut up, Satan! Let him have a little meltdown..." I argued bluntly as Luci smirked, tilting his head at me.

"Y'know, I wasn't kidding when I said I liked you... You've got spunk and spunk is a word one can rarely use in social situations... That makes you likeable..." I shot him a glare as he rambled on, "Okay, shutting up."

"I'm fine..." Gabe managed, regaining his breath after a slight panic attack. He still looked pretty flustered.

"You sure about that, dude?" Lucifer questioned, taking in Gabe's red face and continuous hyperventilating, "How about we leave you alone? Let you have a little rest... Beth will be fine with me."

"I will?" I raised an eyebrow at how much faith he had in himself.

"Yeah... a Nephalem and the Devil himself going out on the town, what could possibly go wrong?" he laughed, turning back to Gabe who had lay back on the pillows and was trying to calm himself down, "I think that's a yes... Let's go."

Luci grabbed my hand and suddenly zapped us into the centre of an abandoned diner that Gabe and I had walked past on the way into town. He pulled up a chair and gestured for me to sit down, "I wasn't expecting that reaction from him... he's acting like he's the pregnant one..." I glanced down at my abdomen, still overwhelmed by the fact.

"Surely you've seen how protective your own dad is?" He snapped his fingers and two cans of Pepsi appeared on the table in front of us.

"Well, yeah but... wait, how do you know my Dad is overprotective?" I cocked an eyebrow at him, cracking the can open and taking a huge gulp, the cool drink calming me slightly.

"Uh, one, he's my brother, too," he counted on his fingers, "and, two, I was watching when he thought you'd been kidnapped by Castiel... he almost smited Gabriel..." He seemed to roll his eyes at his family's ridiculousness.

"Wow... stalker..." I muttered, making him chuckle.

"Hello? Satan?" he replied with a smidge of sass ebbing into his voice, "It's basically my job to stalk people. As soon as your protection wore off, I was watching you and your dad... making sure he wasn't an idiot... making sure you didn't get killed..."

"Where were you when Gabe was being tortured? He almost died-"

He cut me off, "I can't go anywhere near Heaven. Believe me, I would've been there if I could but I'm locked out by Michael." The look in his eyes convinced me he was telling the truth.

I sighed, taking another swig of the caramely liquid, "Okay... so we've got one out-of-order archangel... we can't exactly do much against Michael without him, can we?"

Luci leaned back on his chair, crossing one leg over the other knee, "I don't know, can we? You tell me." I gave him an odd look as he placed a finger to his lip in thought. "What powers do you have?"

My face dropped, "N-no... I can't take on an angel..." 

"Well neither can your boyfriend at the moment, honey," he countered, raising an eyebrow, "If he can't help, I'm gonna need a back-up plan, aren't I? What can you do?"

"Nothing, really..." I tried lying but he looked at me pointedly and I knew I had no chance against him. He practically invented the art. "Fine... so far Gabe has taught me telekinesis, telepathy, uh, that thing where you run really fast...?"

"Velocity."

"Yeah, that... Uh, I think that's it..." I concluded as Lucifer shook his head, crossing his arms.

"Lies..." he sang, looking up at me in disappointment, "Really, Beth? Lying to the Devil? A fiddle of gold against your soul says you know more than you're letting on..."

"I don't have a soul," I countered though personally I wasn't sure if I did.

"Well, along with being besides the point, that's not true... even I have a soul..."

"Really?"

He shook his head, "No, that was a complete lie. It burned when I fell..." He chuckled at the thought before staring expectantly at me, "I'm still waiting for an honest answer. If you won't tell me, I'll dig through your mind again and you know what I found last time..."

I gulped as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "I still hate you for doing that..."

He held a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "Really? I got you laid didn't I?"

"Shut up..." He smirked. "Let's see... I know how to control the weather? Uh, I can move things with my mind?"

"That's telekinesis. You already said that..." he pointed out and I shrugged, "That all?"

I thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah. I've only been in this for about two weeks, cut me some slack..."

"Of course... well, I guess I could show you how to do more... show you the ropes..." he hummed, getting up and pacing over to the door at the back of the diner. He turned back to me with his hand on the handle, "Come on, then."

"Where are we going now?" I pushed my chair back, standing and grabbing my Pepsi can from the tabletop.

Luci rolled his eyes, "I don't know. Anywhere that's out of the way. Come on!" He seemed eager and an eager Satan was a scary Satan in my eyes...

"Okay..."


	34. Chapter 33

_"Beth? Where has he taken you?"_ Gabe's voice came into my head as Lucifer led me into a clearing in the woods we had originally come through. I could hear the panic in his tone as I gathered he'd only just realised we weren't still in the room - the shock must've really shaken him up... 

 _"Clearing outside town. How are you feeling?"_ I replied and Luci gave me a knowing look as I assumed he knew I was talking to Gabe in my mind. 

We came to a stop in the midst of the trees where the forest floor made way for dirt and rocks and Lucifer turned expectantly to me, raising an eyebrow. I blatantly ignored him, hearing him sigh as Gabe continued to talk internally, _"Better... I know I kinda overreacted back there... You want me to come help?"_

I looked up at Luci and he shook his head, probably listening in which I was understandably annoyed about. This guy had no concept of privacy... _"No, Gabe. I think we need space to do this."_ After that I shut his voice off, blocking out the muffled protests somehow as he tried to argue something. Turning back to the man in front of me, I put a hand on my hip, "Were you listening in?" 

"Maybe," he smirked, pushing his hands into his pockets, "Anyway, I'm teaching you things, remember?" 

"About that... what exactly do you aim to teach me? And how will teaching me things benefit you in any way since Gabe is fine?" I cocked an eyebrow at him as he shrugged.

"I may still need a back up plan, you ever think of that?" Luce pointed out, "Plus, I wanted to spend some time with you... is that such a crime?" 

I placed a hand on my hip and shifted my weight onto my other leg, looking at him unimpressed, "Depends on your definition of 'spending time'. I can guarantee yours is much different to mine... remember I have a boyfriend..." 

"Yeah, yeah, and he'll somehow beat my ass if I so much as touch you. I get it." He rolled his eyes, "Gabriel already gave me an earful about it... can I please just teach you some tricks?"

"Why can't Gabe teach me? Surely he knows everything you know?" I was being stubborn and annoying but I felt I had a right to be edgy around the literal Devil.

Luci blew out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair before staring directly at me, "You truly think I'd teach my annoying little brother everything? I had to hold something back otherwise he'd be a nightmare... We may get along now but he did nothing but get on my nerves in the few millennia before I fell..."

The new information didn't exactly surprise me - it wasn't hard to imagine Gabe getting on someone's nerves... "Why do you want to teach me those things then?"

"What's with all the questions?" he replied, answering my question with one of his own, "Because I feel like it, okay? You're very powerful and you can be my little prodigy. I'm a sucker for fame. Now, can we get on with it?"

"Yeah, okay," I smiled cheerfully and sarcastically as Lucifer grimaced in annoyance.

"If I'd known you'd be like this, I wouldn't have bothered..." he muttered before clapping his hands and getting my attention, "Right! First things first, you need to start small... I know, I know, it's annoying, but you can't create realistic humans or anything like that without making smaller things as a starting point..." 

"Oh..." I said sadly, downhearted by this flaw in the plan, "Okay..."

 "Don't give me that look."

"What look?"  

"The 'I'm sad, pity me' look. I created that look! You can't use my own look against me!" A laugh escaped my lips as he mirrored my face perfectly. "See? My look... I am the creator of the look and only I am permitted to use it."

I rolled my eyes at his petulance, "Okay, whatever you say, oh creator of the look... Can we get on with learning?"

"Of course, young grasshopper," Luci mimicked the stereotypical ninja master voice, making me smile, "but first, you must learn the secrets of... the pin!" He made dramatic gestures which looked more like a distressed monkey, "Hey, less of the monkey!" 

"The pin?" I raised an eyebrow and he nodded curtly, "What?"

"Hold your hand out in front of you," he instructed and I did, "Palm up, idiot. Unless you wanna drop it?" I flipped my hand over, flipping him off in the process as he chuckled, "Now, picture a pin - just a simple pin - and imagine it sitting in the palm of your hand..." 

"O-kay..." I trailed off, losing my words in concentration as I focused on the image of a pin in my head. It was quite easy to picture due to the fact that, up until a few years ago, I had a corkboard in my bedroom with multicoloured pins stuck in it - fake mom took it away shortly after my fifteenth birthday, convinced that I was using them to hurt myself but I could still remember what they looked like.

As I thought, I felt a burning sensation tingling over the soft skin of my hand, followed by a sharp prick, making my eyes fly open. I looked down and found a small pin in my hand, as I'd imagined, but the point had landed straight down, submerging itself in my flesh. It didn't really hurt but I still cursed through my teeth, "Shit..."

"You should probably pull that out," Lucifer gestured as I pulled a face at him, gripping the top with my nails and prying it out of the skin it was embedded in, "I'm impressed. It took Gabriel the equivalent of about seven earth months to pick that up..." 

"I'm beginning to think Gabe isn't as great as he thinks he is..." I shook my hand as the slight pain subsided in a warm glow which spread over the punctured flesh - my half grace trying its best. It could heal small wounds very simply but so help me if I was mortally injured...

"He got better with time. So will you." Luci examined the pin that I handed over, "Not bad... Let's go a bit bigger this time, maybe without any sharp edges?"


	35. Chapter 34

When we returned to the motel room, Gabe was busy pacing back and forth on the carpet, almost making a track in the fibres from the amount of times he'd walked over them. He looked up as we walked in, taking the door rather than just appearing since it was making me dizzy every time Luci did it - his landings definitely weren't as gentle as Gabe's...

As soon as I stepped through the door, Gabe attacked me in a hug as Lucifer sighed, "Really, Gabriel? I wasn't gonna kidnap her... What do you take me for?"

"I take you for the Devil, Luci," Gabe said pointedly, holding my shoulders in his warm embrace, "We may be brothers but that doesn't mean I have any trust in you."

"You would be a fool if you did." Luci strolled past us and perched on the window sill, staring through the glass at the street below. "I taught her some stuff. Powerful stuff..."

"How powerful?" Gabe peered down at me, checking my arms for any signs of injury that he thought Luci might have inflicted. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't trust him...

"Very," I grinned, snapping my fingers and watching his face drop as I dissolved in his arms. He looked around, scared and shocked as the real me stepped into the room, grinning, "I seriously fooled you with that?"

Gabe stuttered, struggling to form words as Luce laughed, "Wh-wha? H-how? It felt real..." He looked up at me as I leaned on the doorframe, wonder in his eyes, "You learned that in that short amount of time?"

"Yeah, it took me about two hours in the end... I learned from the best," I smirked as Luci grinned and shook invisible dust from his shoulders, "Perhaps I can trick the Trickster..."

Gabe held his arms out for a hug, "This is you this time, right?" I laughed and nodded as he pulled me into a real hug, "I'll admit, I didn't think you could manage it... I've gotta stop underestimating you, eh?"

"She surprised me, honestly," Lucifer interrupted, "I needed a back-up plan for Michael if you weren't up for it and I guess we've got one now."

"Speaking of Michael," Gabe sat down on the bed and pulled me onto his lap where I curled up against his warm chest, sighing at the feeling I'd been missing, "I was thinking about how to get him down here. It's gonna need to be something pretty big to catch his attention but not too big in case we all get ourselves killed by what's left of the God Squad..."

"Any ideas?" Luci questioned and I gathered he was as clueless as I was.

A hum came from Gabe as he pulled his legs up under him, shifting me slightly to get comfortable, "I would say it was too dangerous to contact anyone but we've got two archangels here now... I doubt any angels will attack us if we stick our necks out slightly." He looked to his brother who had crossed his arms and leant back against the window pane, "They're all terrified of you after what happened last time you were up..."

Luci smiled smugly, "Now, that I'm not surprised about... So you're suggesting we get some more people on our side? Build our forces? Sorry to burst your little bubble there, Gabriel, but we're a bit of a motley crew, don't you think?"

"Sam and Dean?" Gabe offered as Lucifer pulled a face, "We've at least got Balthazar on our side."

Luci rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Balthazar? That drunkard?"

I coughed indignantly, glaring at him despite it being slightly true, "Excuse me, that's my father..." 

"I'm sorry, Beth. My apologies but he does always seem to have alcohol on his person," he reasoned and I shrugged, letting him know I didn't take it too personally, "I guess we can consult them... but be warned, if they turn hostile I'm getting out of there. I don't particularly like having my ass hauled back to the cage by the Winchesters..."

"Let's face it, the only one of us who isn't on their bad side is Beth," Gabe pointed out, glancing down at me, "She can probably explain the situation better..."

"Okay. Should I give them a call?" I asked. Gabe nodded, leaning over and grabbing the phone on the table behind us before tossing it to me.

I swiftly caught it in mid air, cradling the cool plastic in my hands as I punched in the number I'd now memorised. Sam picked up on the second ring, much quicker than I'd expected, "Hello?"

"Sam, it's Beth again. We're fine before you ask," I heard him stutter before stopping, "I need you to promise me something before I explain this to you?"

"What is it?" Dean was mumbling away in the background too, presumably to Cas.

"Promise you won't overreact? Because if you do I swear I will just hang up and come over there myself anyway..." I threatened but it was an empty threat. An angel would see me for sure and, without Luci or Gabe, I would have no back up. 

"Okay... I promise?" He sounded unsure but I guessed he didn't want to argue with me.

 "Right... We have another person on our side..."

"Who?"

I gulped, crossing the fingers on my free hand, "Lucifer." 

Sam exploded, almost literally, "Lucifer?! What the hell, Beth?! Are you insane?!" As he yelled down the phone I could hear Dad and Cas talking away to either each other or Sam. 

"What happened to the promise?" I sighed as he ranted on about something I wasn't listening to, "Pass me to my Dad, Sam... You hearing me? Pass the phone to my Dad..." 

He huffed but obliged and I heard him shuffle to give the receiver to Balthazar. "Darling?" Dad's accented voice came through the phone, "Is this true what Sam is telling me? You're with Lucifer? Where's Gabriel?"

"He's here, too," I assured him, thankful he was a little calmer, "Listen, Dad, Sam didn't give me chance to explain. Luci wants to bring down Michael and Gabe shares his hatred so we're going to work together to defeat him... we don't have many people on our side, though, and we're not prepared for a suicide mission..." 

"Let me guess..." Dad sighed, "You want our help? I'm not sure, Darling... I mean, I despise Mikey as much as the next angel but you realise going up against him is going up against Heaven, right?" 

"Yeah, it's a risk we have to take... he tortured Gabe, Dad! Just to spite Luci!"

"I didn't know that... believe me, Honey," Dad's breath hitched slightly as I gave him the horrid information. He sighed again, deeper this time, "Okay, I'll help but only because I don't want you getting hurt... Is there anything else?"

I glanced up at Gabe who was watching me carefully, putting my hand over the receiver, "Should I tell him? About..." I gestured to my stomach and Gabe's eyes went wide in fear. 

He deliberated for a moment, shooting a desperate look at Luci who just shrugged as if to say, 'Not my problem'. Finally, he looked back to me and gave a shaky nod.

Taking a deep breath, I went back to the phone, "Dad?"

"Oh, I thought you'd gone, Honey... What is it?" He sounded so cheerful that I hated myself for having to tell him.

"Um... I'm pregnant..."

"WHAT?!"


	36. Chapter 35

"This had better be a joke, Elizabeth!" Dad shouted down the phone as I flinched. Gabe came over and held me in his arms for reassurance. "Tell me you're joking!"

"...I'm not joking, Dad... we realised this morning... Luci could sense it and so could I..." I tried to keep my voice steady but it cracked in places. This side of Dad scared me...

"What the hell?! How are you pregnant? Wait... who's the father?" I got the feeling he already knew full well who it was but he was hoping it wasn't. In the background, I could hear Dean suddenly say, "Pregnant?" and Sam reply with, "She didn't sound pregnant..."

"Gabriel..." I muttered, closing my eyes and waiting for the explosion to happen on the other end.

"That bastard..." Dad seethed, quieter than I'd expected, "I guess I should've seen this happening at some point but not this soon! What the hell were you thinking, Elizabeth?"

"I'll tell you exactly what I was thinking, Dad," I replied sharply, figuring it was best to be straightforward about it rather than cowering at his anger, "I was thinking that I'm eighteen. That I have my own choices about what I do. That I have a loving boyfriend who will stick with me throughout this whole horrid business..." Gabe pulled me closer, a small smile on his lips, "That's what I was thinking..."

Dad blew out a breath before replying, "I'm sorry, Elizabeth... You're right... I'm still going to strangle the bastard but you made this decision... You realise what this means, right?"

"That I've created another abomination? Yeah, I realise that..."

"Not only that. Heaven is going to want you even more now because if you die, they can have the child and I'm guessing the child of a Nephalem and an archangel will be even more powerful than you..." As he pointed that out, it sunk in. Up until that point, I had been the most powerful known creature in the universe... now we'd created something even greater...

"Damn..." was all I could manage and Gabe looked up, probably reading my thoughts although I'd warned him not to multiple times. "So, what you're saying is that... this child... is even more of a threat than me?"

"Yes, Dear..." Again the Winchesters were bickering about something in the background but I'd tuned them out by that point. "You'd best be getting prepared. You've got nine months, maybe less, and no one knows the power it will have... You were right about help - you're gonna need all the help you can get..."

"Can you convince the Winchesters? And Cas?" He hummed in reply which I guessed was a yes. "Thanks, Dad..."

"Not a problem, Darling-" he was about to hang up when he stopped, "Oh, and be a dear and tell Gabriel I'm going to skin him the next time I see him. I could do with a nice feathered carpet... Ciao, Honey!" The change in his tone told me he knew Gabe was listening in.

I raised an eyebrow as he hung up, glancing at the phone incredulously before placing it back in its cradle. "I'm guessing you heard that?" I questioned the wide-eyed Gabe beside me who nodded, gulping, "Hey? At least he's not gonna kill you, right?"

He looked at me as if I'd grown another head, "Yeah... always looking on the bright side..."

"I don't know, Gabriel..." Luci mused from across the room, placing his forefinger on his chin in thought as he tilted his head at his brother, "I think you'd make a nice carpet..."

Gabe glared at him in annoyance, "Shut up..." He turned to me, "I expected him to be like that, I guess..."

"Of course he's like that," I pointed out, brushing a stray hair away from his face as he shivered against my cold fingertips, "He's my Dad. He's just being a typical Dad with the whole 'I'll kill you if you touch my daughter' speech. Only issue for you is that he might actually go through with it... I'd watch your back, if I were you..."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Beth..." The sarcasm was dripping from his lips as he looked over at Lucifer. "We've probably got them on our side, now... Just don't go tormenting Sam again, he was an absolute wreck last time..."

I looked between them questioningly as Luci chuckled, putting on an innocent expression, "I don't know what you mean, brother... Me? Torment little Sammy? I'm shocked..." He slapped a hand over his absent heart to emphasise his words.

"Oh, come on, Luci - everyone figured out it was you who caused those hallucinations. Sam's mind wasn't messed up enough to make you so life-like..." Gabe rolled his eyes as his brother shrugged.

"Okay, so it was me? I'm sure he agrees we had a great time together, lots of memories." Something about the way Gabe was looking at him showed me that Sam definitely would not agree... I wasn't sure I wanted to know the story behind it... "Anywho... I think I'll go and snoop around for a while, try and find where Mikey's hanging around?"

"Yeah, okay, we were gonna go out for a bit anyway. Get some fresh air..." As Gabe said it, I shot him a looked that asked, 'We were?'. "We'll see you back here... whenever..."

Luci nodded, looking between us suspiciously before smiling and flying off, the flutter of wings and chill air being the only evidence he was ever there. "We're going out?"

"Yeah," Gabe chirped, heaving himself up and off the bed and pulling me up after him, "I thought we'd go for a walk - in the woods, of course - since we've barely had time to take it all in or think in the past twenty-four hours... What do you think? You up for it?"

I laughed at the sudden caution in his eyes, "Gabe, I'm about nine hours pregnant, not nine months... I'm pretty sure I can handle myself."

"Good," he blushed a light pink before laughing awkwardly along with me, taking my hand in his, "I want to show you something..."


	37. Chapter 36

We stopped walking as we came to the same clearing that Luci had brought me to only hours before. The only reason I knew was because of the scorch marks on the surrounding trees, charred by the accidental fire ball I created from my wings when trying to create a football... apparently, I was concentrating too hard...

"What is it that you wanted to show me?" I asked as he let go of my hand and sat cross-legged on the ground, not caring about the dirt and rocks.

His lips arched into a small smile, his golden honey coloured eyes glinting in the sparse light piercing between the gaps in the canopy above our heads. "I'm not quite sure if you'll see them... I could see yours..."

"See what? My what?" 

"Wings," he clarified and my eyes widened in response, "When you put your wings out before, back at the house, I could see them so clearly... it frightened me at first but then I saw their beauty..."

"Why is that so special? Dad can see them, Luci can-" He cut through my confusion with his calm tone and kind expression.

"Your Dad can see them only because you are direct family. You can see his but I can't, despite him being my brother - we're not that closely related due to the fact we were created, not conceived. As for Lucifer, he can only see the effects of the flames - the charring or burning - he can't see the actual wings... Only-" he trailed off, looking away from me and avoiding eye contact before muttering the rest of the sentence under his breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I strained my ears to hear him but it was still inaudible.

He went bright red as the intensity of my gaze forced him to look up at me, "Uh... I said... that only..." he continued to mutter something, "...can see each other's wings..."

"Only what?" It was getting ridiculous, now - what was he hiding from me?

Reluctantly, he took a deep breath, "Soulmates, okay? Only soulmates can see each other's wings..." 

I choked on air for a moment and his eyes got sadder, "You think... that I'm your soulmate?"

"I understand if you're repulsed by the idea... it would explain why I fell for you so rapidly... your eyes, your smile..." he trailed off again, coughing awkwardly, "I just thought we could check and make sure... see if you could see my wings... If you don't want to, I-"

"Show me," I cut him off abruptly, pressing a finger against his lips to shush him as he looked up at me in bewilderment, "Show me your wings."

"Um... okay... I'd close my eyes, if I were you. They're quite bright..." he advised, standing up in front of me as I scuttled backwards to give him some space. Quickly, as he took another deep breath, I clamped my eyes shut, covering them with both hands and probably looking like an absolute idiot but I'd prefer to keep my eyesight than look like a supermodel...

Even through my hands and eyelids, light still warmed my skin and I could see a yellow-y white fire ignite in front of me. Though tempted, I kept my eyes firmly shut until the glare died down and Gabe gave me the cue to open them.

"You can look now..." he breathed, sounding tired.

Cautiously, I pried open my eyelids and removed my hands from my face, gasping at the magnificent sight before my eyes. At first, I could only see hints of gold mist hanging around Gabe's shoulders and arms but as my eyes focused, I saw them.

His wings.

Six huge, golden brown wings, folded over each other like a perfectly assembled jigsaw, each one covered in thousands of small, intricate feathers. I stood up, never tearing my gaze away from the beautiful things as I ran my eyes over every feather, every wave, every change in colour. They seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, a stream of glittering magic running from the tips to Gabe's shoulders, matching the shade of his eyes exactly.

"G-Gabe..." I stuttered as he searched my face, desperate for some sort of reaction, "T-they're beautiful..."

"You can see them?" he asked hopefully and elatedly, his eyes shining as I nodded, "Oh my father, I was right!" He grabbed me suddenly in his overwhelming excitement, pulling me into a crushing hug as I giggled, "I can't believe it, I was right!"

"Y-yeah..." I said shakily, smiling against his chest as his wings arched around us, "Gabe? Can I t-touch them?" I looked up into his eyes pleadingly and he sighed, half with happiness and half with something else I could quite make out...

There was a slightly panicked look in his eyes, "Uh, yeah... just, y'know, be gentle... They got beat up pretty bad by Michael..." My heart shattered at the sudden sadness in his eyes as his voice became hoarse at the memories. I swore when I met Michael, he was gonna pay for what he did...

"Hey..." I shushed, caressing his face with the back of my hand. Cautiously, I reached my other hand out to the feathers nearest to his shoulder, beginning to stroke them gently as Gabe let out a sigh. "Is this okay?"

He nodded, closing his eyes in what looked like bliss, "I-It's more than okay... no one has ever touched my wings with their hands before, I didn't know how good it felt..."

"You trying to tell me you're getting off on this?" I laughed as I moved my other hand to caress his lower wing, causing him to moan unintentionally as I stroked along it, straightening out the crooked ones. "These are seriously in need of some love, Gabe... There's crooked ones and blood on some..."

"I wouldn't argue if you wanted to sort them out for me," he hinted through a happy sigh, leaning his head back, "This is better than sex..."

"So you are getting off on it?" I smirked, making a bowl of warm, soapy water appear beside me as I gestured for him to sit down but, before I knew it, we were back in the motel room, sat on the bed.

"It was cold," he explained before turning his back to me so I could reach his wings better, "Carry on..."

I chuckled lightly, picking up a cloth and dipping it into the water before carefully wiping away a large spot of blood that was staining the arch of Gabe's middle left-hand wing. He flinched slightly as I caught the gash with some soap but soon relaxed again as I touched it gently, sealing it up with my own grace.

I continued this for quite a while, running his feathers beneath my fingers and smiling at his groans of pleasure as I did. After about an hour, I checked them over once more to see if I'd missed anything but everything seemed to be in order now. I leaned back and Gabe let out a whine at the loss of contact, "Why'd you stop?"

"They're clean and healed, except for the big scars because they won't fix completely," I told him and he hummed a response.

"Good..." I gave the back of his head a questioning look as he turned to face me, pushing me into the pillows and straddling my waist, "You have no idea how long it feels like I haven't kissed you..." He swooped down and melded my lips with his, moaning at the contact, "Your hands were driving me crazy..."

I grinned into the kiss before reaching up and stroking the parts of his wings I could reach from where I lay. He groaned into my open mouth, letting me deepen the kiss as his body was overwhelmed with feeling.

There was no doubt... we were soulmates...


	38. Chapter 37

"Michael is in Massachusetts." Lucifer suddenly appeared in the room, making us spring away from each other in shock. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Gabe coughed awkwardly, climbing off top of me and withdrawing his wings despite Luci not being able to see them, "Uh, no no... Massachusetts? What's he doing there?"

Luci looked between us suspiciously but seemed to shrug it off, "Yes, Massachusetts. It seems there's been some threatening demon behaviour near there... nothing to do with me, of course..."

"What did you do?" He looked up at me innocently and I raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "What?"

"I might have told your mother that you were there..." he said, sheepishly looking down as anger flared in Gabe's sunlight-though-whiskey eyes, "What?! I tracked her down in Hell, she can't find you with all the protection on you."

"You didn't exactly think this through now, did you?" Gabe growled through gritted teeth, glaring at his brother while stroking my arm with his thumb. 

"What? She's fine and safe and I thought we could take her mother down at the same time..." Luci was getting more worried by the second as he was slowly realising he probably shouldn't have done that.

"You realise that means we're not only up against Mike, we've got Darwena to deal with, too!" Gabe finally snapped after he'd been getting tenser and tenser against my side. "This is on your head, Luci. If Beth gets hurt in a-"

"She won't," Luce cut him off, "She's got us. I get it... I'm an idiot but it attracted his attention and he touched down about three minutes ago, flanked by two other angels. I'm sorry that I'm putting Beth in danger but she can't stay safe forever... you've got to let her use what powers she has..."

"No, I haven't," Gabe barked and I turned to glare at him, hurt, pulling away and getting off the bed hastily - not wanting to be cuddled any longer. As I went to stand by Luci who also seemed shocked, he coughed, trying to apologise, "No, I mean, I-"

"What do you even mean by that, Gabe?" I looked down at him accusingly, seeing fear in his widened eyes, "You may be my soulmate but that doesn't mean you own me... You can't control me..."

"I know, I know," he covered, standing from the comforter and going to hug me but I flinched away from him and his eyes flashed with hurt, "I'm sorry... I just couldn't bear to see you hurt..."

I tried to stand firm but I made the mistake of looking into his golden eyes, the heartbreaking look engrained inside them making me soften my glare. I looked down at my hands, fiddling with my fingernails and acting uninterested when really I just could bear to look at his face. Soon after, I was enveloped in a hug and his warmth emanated through him to me, causing a sigh to escape from my mouth as I wrapped my arms around his tummy and Luci gagged beside me before laughing.

"I'm sorry... I got angry..."

He pulled back, keeping his hands on my shoulders as he looked into my eyes honestly, "No, you had every right to be angry, babe... I was being a dick, I know I don't own you. I just love you too much," Luci retched again as I smiled, "Oh, shut up, Luci. Just 'cause you can't keep a partner without killing them somehow..."

"Hey! I'm sensitive," Lucifer shot back, making me giggle as I turned to look at him.

"D'aww, sensitive Satan..." He stuck his forked tongue out at me and I smirked, snapping my fingers and suddenly he had the words, 'I'm sensitive' plastered across his forehead in Sharpie.

"Oi! Take this off!" he cried, seeing his reflection in the mirror on the dresser as Gabe cracked up beside me, holding his hand up for a high-five.

"No, why don't you?" I grinned, slapping Gabe's hand and turning back to Lucifer who had turned his eyes red, "Ooh, I'm so scared... Look at me, I'm practically shaking in my boots..."

A low growl erupted from his throat and I would have been scared but the markered on words completely ruined his whole 'bad guy' look, "I can't! An angel can't undo another angel's magic..."

This was news to me but I continued laughing, "Bet you wish you hadn't taught me now, eh? Oh, fine..." I gave in and snapped my fingers a second time, watching in amusement as he stared in the mirror, looking for any trace of the pen that had previously been there.

"If you weren't my brother's powerful girlfriend, I would kill you so much right now," he muttered as I smirked, laughing, "Stop smirking! That's my thing..."

"I'm pretty sure you didn't invent smirking," I said, feeling smart until I saw Gabe nodding his head. My jaw dropped in disbelief, "Really? You did?"

"Yeah?" Luci shrugged as if it were the most obvious, "Of course I did, I invented everything cool..."

I rolled my eyes at his arrogance, "Right, because nothing is more cool than smirking..." I turned back to Gabe as Luce pulled a face at the back of my head - I could almost feel his eyes burning into me (knowing him, he probably did have laser eyes), "So, are we going to Massachusetts, then?"

"Yeah, Massachusetts. Why do decisions always seem to take forever when you're around?" He was shaking his head but there was a loving look in his eyes. "We're not in some chick flick..."

"I invented those, too," Lucifer perked up and I shot him a confused glance, "Okay, they're not my greatest creation, I'll admit that... but anything that can make a girl aroused that quickly is a sin..." He smirked and I scoffed in disgust.

"You're despicable, you know that?"

"Oh, I know, honey... I just love your reactions to everything I say," he chuckled and I narrowed my eyes, flicking them down to his gut for a second and soon he was keeled over in agony. Gabe stepped forward on instinct, seeing his brother in pain, but saw my smile and edged out of my way. "Beth-"

"What? I can't hear you over the sound of your vessel's stomach being liquefied?" I countered as Luci coughed up blood, "Did you say you're sorry? Did you say you're never going to mess with me ever again?"

He gave me a death glare despite the pain. "Yes-" he managed, the carpet in front of him turning red, "I'm sor-... sorry..."

Satisfied, I clicked my fingers and replaced his stomach as he struggled and stood back up. The blood disappeared, too, while he looked at me with newfound fear in his eyes along with a hint of malice swimming deep inside them. Gabe was still looking at me, wide-eyed.

"Beth..." he said cautiously, careful not to provoke me, "I love you and you're brilliant but... you're really scary sometimes..."


	39. Chapter 38

In less than three minutes, the three of us were hunched in the shadows of a dingy back alley, staying as quiet and close to the grimy wall as we could. Outside on the street, less than twenty metres from us, exactly thirteen demons were standing in v-formation, surrounding the front of the State House.

"Darwena is inside," Lucifer muttered above me as Gabe breathed against my side, "So is Michael... they appear to be talking..." He seemed confused and his tone emanated that feeling.

"About what?" I whispered, not turning my head to look at him but he heard me anyway.

He took a breath, glancing at Gabe as they both listened in with their apparent angel hearing, "You... they're both willing to make a deal in order to take you down... Darwena knows what you look like..."

"I'm guessing that's bad...?"

"Very," Gabe replied under his breath, "You can't just walk in there. They'll recognise you immediately and, if they realise you're pregnant, they'll kill you on the spot if not faster..."

"Can I even be killed?" I questioned and he shrugged, not really helping.

"Who knows? But if you can, you can guarantee Mike has the power to find the right weapon. We're gonna need you to change but it's not gonna be easy with that lot out there, they're bound to see..."

He looked to Lucifer for a solution who seemed deep in thought. It was hard to see them as brothers sometimes since they were so dissimilar in both looks and personality but it was obvious that they loved each other, even if it was buried deep down. "She could fly away again and come back but they could follow her so that's a no go... Uh... there's nothing without drawing attention to ourselves... You know what that means..."

Gabe sighed and raised an eyebrow, seemingly dissatisfied, "All guns blazing?" 

"All guns blazing," Luci confirmed, nodding before looking back to me. I figured I didn't really need an explanation as to what that meant. "Alright, so you change your form when I tell you to and be ready to attack as soon as it's done. We'll charge in - Gabriel takes the left four, I take the middle five and you take the right four - simple smite job should be fine, then we go from there. Okay?"

I nodded and saw Gabe do the same from the corner of my eye. It was clear they both had military backgrounds, Lucifer more than Gabe, and it seemed they struggled to let go of the past. A bit like a few others I'd recently met... cough Sam and Dean cough...

"Good. Be ready to run the second you've changed. We'll only have a few seconds to get over there," Luci instructed, looking down into my eyes. I nodded again before standing back from them and clicking my fingers, causing my appearance to change as I tried my hardest to dim the amount of light I was giving off. Gabe's body shielded most of it from spilling out into the street but the demons still noticed and, as the light died down, their footsteps pounded over.

"Good luck..." I heard Luce mutter what I guessed he thought was reassurance before we went out to face them.

The moment I stepped into the street, a knife was swung at my head and I ducked, kicking out and tripping the demon inhabiting the body of a teenage girl. She fell to the ground, causing the older guy behind her to trip and go down with her as two more, a middle aged couple by the looks of them, neared me on both sides. The woman cackled when she was a few feet from me, thinking they'd cornered me but I was too sharp to walk into a trap...

As she reached out to grab my shaking form, her face fell when her fingers slipped straight through my torso. She tried again and so did the man, their hands falling through me like I was made of smoke over and over until they heard screams from behind them and turned to see me stabbing both of the others through the chest with my newly acquired archangel blade - Gabriel got me one from granddad knows where...

"I'd appreciate it if you could stop groping me, please?"

They looked at me bewildered before turning back to the projection of me which waved slyly at them with its muscled hands as I plunged the blade into the woman's back from behind. The man lunged for me but, again, I was way too quick and he suddenly had a lovely silver sword adorning his chest. As he fell to the floor, I wiped his blood from my blade and tucked it away in my shirt before running over to Lucifer who was taking on four demons, "Need some help?"

"No," he called back, stabbing the one closest to him and kicking another's legs. 

I looked over to Gabe who was now down to one and seemed to be coping fine on his own. "You sure, Luce? Y'know, I could just..." I stuck my blade into one demon's shoulder and it crumpled before I stamped on the floored one's hand as the creature was reaching for it's knife.

"I'm fine!" he growled through gritted teeth, his eyes going black in annoyance as I laughed and stabbed the one on the ground through the heart, "Dammit, Beth! I said I was fine!" He finished off the last one and rounded on me, glaring as Gabe jogged up beside me.

"Oh, yeah, you'd totally be fine when you had a demon blade in your throat," I countered, looking around at the corpses at our feet. I felt guilty for the vessels but we hadn't had time for any exorcisms.

Luci grunted as Gabe chuckled, glancing up at the building to search for any disturbances. "It wouldn't kill me anyway..." he muttered, crossing his arms after wiping the blood on his blade onto one of the demons' shirts, "There's only three weapons that can kill me and, no, I won't tell you what they are..."

"Aww..." I pouted, tilting my head slightly as the short hair of my less familiar form tickled the back of my neck, "You're mean..."

"I'm mean for not letting you know how to kill me? I think I'll stay mean rather than dead." He followed Gabe's gaze and looked up as I saw someone shifting in one of the windows - it was dark but there was definitely someone there, watching us. "They know we're here..."

I sighed and brought my gaze back to the front door, letting Gabe take my hand, "Let's go say hello, then..."


	40. Chapter 39

As we entered the building, it was eerily quiet - way too quiet for a place that contained the eldest of the archangels, my own mother and a dozen or so more demons on the side. Basically, despite our earlier bravery, all three of us were scared and jumpy at every creak of the floorboards. Luci tried to stay calm but even he flinched at the screech of the door hinges and held his breath at every corner. 

I still don't know why we didn't charge in. They already knew we were there and could no doubt sense exactly where we were in the building but I guess the element of surprise was already lost so there was no point in trying to find it again. Besides, it gave us time to compose ourselves as we climbed the staircase, cautiously checking behind every door and in every room in case they'd prepared a trap - they hadn't.

We finally reached the topmost room in the building; the room from which I could sense great surging power; the room I probably didn't want to be entering; the room which contained my mother, my eldest uncle and a host of demons of indefinite relation to me. I hesitated as we stood outside the door, clenching Gabe's hand in my tight fist and probably cutting off any blood flowing through it but he managed to squeeze back, kissing the top of my head before Luci pushed open the door and lead us inside.

At first, I had to let my vessel's eyes adjust to the dimly lit room before us. It was vast, spanning the entirety of the top floor minus the stairwell, and shrouded in shadows but, with only quiet footsteps announcing his presence, a younger looking man stepped into view. Michael.

His vessel was tall, with broad shoulders - perhaps a quarterback before he took on the body. He had piercing eyes though they were slightly sunken into his face, his brow bones casting darkness over them as he seemed to examine the three of us like we were some strange creatures he'd just found in a zoo. Sharp cheekbones jutted out from his face in the same manner his shoulders did from his body, making him appear more like an abstract Picasso painting than a human which made sense since he was neither. It would have been a downright lie if I'd said he didn't send shockwaves coursing through me... 

But his appearance was nothing compared to the fear I felt as the woman behind him came into the light...

She was shorter than him and Gabe held my shoulder protectively as he felt me tense up beside him when her green eyes scanned me head to toe. Her face was thin and gaunt, as if she was incredibly old yet trapped in the body of a younger form; I didn't quite understand how demon vessels and possession worked but I knew this wasn't what she really looked like, this was too pretty, too youthful. 

"Brother," Luci was the first to break the silence as the five of us were quickly circled by around ten lower demons, "How lovely to see you..."

"This is no time for talk, Lucifer. You know what we want," Michael glanced to Darwena and then back to us, "Tell us where the Nephalem is." Ah, so they don't know I'm here? That's handy.

"Nephalem?" Luci asked, playing the fool with a confused look on his face, "How would we know where a Nephalem is? Really, Mike, consorting with demons?"

Michael appeared to bite back a remark as Lucifer tutted before calming himself, "I am not the perpetrator of the sin, brother. Darwena here is aiding my efforts to destroy the abomination before it causes any more sorrow. We had reason to believe you were consorting with the father."  

"Whoa... I thought you were kidding, Mikey..." Gabe says, wide-eyed in fake shock, "Surely Nephalem can't exist? What angel would ever consort with a demon?" 

"I admit I also thought they could not exist but when Darwena told me of how she brought one into the world, I had to change my views," Michael said monotonously with no emotion in his voice as he looked back at my mother again. The entire time they'd been talking, her eyes had been scanning over me but she seemed to shake off whatever she was feeling. "She believes the father was a lower angel. Balthazar, to be exact."

 "Balthazar?" Luci chuckled, "That drunk? I'm not surprised..." He choked slightly as anger flared in me and his vessel's windpipe was my victim. "I mean, how? How long ago did this happen?"

 "Eighteen earth years," Darwena finally spoke up, her light voice sending shivers down my spine as we turned to look over at her, "I left the child with him and expected him to destroy it but he didn't. He allowed it to live..." She sneered in disgust. "The idiot let it capture his heart and he let it live out a life on Earth..."

 "How come we didn't sense it? How do you know this and we don't?"

 She gave Gabe a look of annoyance, "He placed a protective charm over it. I could only find it with my hounds, I sent them to kill it but it was too strong for them and they could only torture it. The spell wore off on its eighteenth birthday but Balthazar got to it before I could and it's now protected by multiple charms and sigils... a bit like you..." She looked over to me as I cocked my head in confusion.

"I don't understand..." 

"That chain you're wearing," Michael interrupted, also looking at me with scrutiny as I felt like a bug beneath their gaze, "Why do you possess it?" 

I had no idea what to say. _"Make something up,"_ Lucifer urged inside my head, _"Quickly..."_

"It's protection from Raphael," I covered quickly, picking it up and twirling it in my fingertips, "He tried to kill me once and I'd prefer not to risk it again..."

"Strange, he doesn't usually attempt murder without a reason?" Michael mused as Gabe argued in my mind, _"What the heck are you talking about?"_

"I angered him a few centuries back," I continued, "Refused to be his soulmate and he felt rage towards me, turning on me with his blade. I've worn this chain ever since."

Michael didn't seem convinced so Luci quickly stepped in to save me, "He came to my protection soon after and I provided him with the chain, the anklet and the carvings on his vessel's ribs. Gabriel aided me and he's been shielded by both of us for the past two centuries..."

"Oh, brother..." Michael sighed, pacing over to stand a few feet in front of me as Gabe held my hand tighter in fear, "You should know better than to lie to me... I thought you were smarter than that..." He looked down into my eyes, "Now, you, I know all about. You really thought you could fool me? You disgusting little Nephalem..."


	41. Chapter 40

I stepped back at the accusation, maintaining my look of shock as Michael stared down at me, "Don't try to deny it. Your little charade is up and, really, my brethren, I am shocked to find you concealing such a creature in your midst. I used to think you had pride..."

Darwena was still looking at me, scrutinising my form with her invasive glare, "I should have seen it before. It's so clear now that you are my own..."

"I don't know what you are talking about. My name is Aliazel, I am an angel of the garrison..."

"He has never been out of our sight, Michael," Gabe countered, looking at his brother who wasn't fully listening, "I can vouch for that."

Michael shook his head, tutting, "I doubt you can vouch for anything, Gabriel, nor can I believe a single word that comes from your mouth. Last I heard, it was yourself and the creature's father who killed over a third of the garrison, including Uriel. Reports are that you both were not alone, but you had a girl with you - a girl who was believed to be the Nephalem. I think I am correct in thinking that they can also change their form at will..."

I glanced to Luci who seemed to be lost in thought. He looked up and met my gaze, shaking his head in defeat... he couldn't find any way out of this... If we fought, we'd be killed immediately but if we didn't, well, we'd be dead anyway... Then, almost unintelligibly, he winked at me.

"Okay, let's say you are right," Luce spoke up, tearing Michael's gaze from me as I understood what he was doing. I looked to Darwena and she, too, was now focused on Luci, as were the rest of demons around us. "How do you plan to prove it?"

"I need no proof," Michael argued as I discretely snapped my fingers behind my back. Within seconds, I was crouched in the shadows behind Darwena and the elder archangel and only Gabriel noticed since I left an illusion of myself beside him. The others were clueless though I could tell Luci knew I'd done something as he looked over to the fake version and a whisper of a smirk graced his lips. "I am the leader of the angels now. They all obey me."

"You got a bit of God complex going on there, Mikey?" Gabe raised an eyebrow, glancing at my true position quickly as I made the illusion look towards Michael, "Should be careful with that, you know, remember what happened to Cas?"

"Do not attempt to distract me from the task at hand, brother," the oldest sneered, looking between his younger siblings before looking to fake me. It seemed to fool him, the illusion, giving me time to formulate a new plan since plan A of killing them without them knowing about me had failed. "We will kill this Nephalem and both of you will die, too, if you attempt to get in my way..."

"K-kill me?" I made my doppelganger stutter. It had a telepathic link to me so anything I instructed mentally, it had to do, "B-but I'm not a threat..."

"You killed Uriel, the head of the garrison, along with countless others. Not to mention those outside of this building. You possess unknown powers and I cannot risk that-"

"There is too much talk!" Darwena suddenly screeched, interrupting him as I instructed the copy to flinch back and it did so very convincingly, "Just kill the thing already!" She drew a large scythe from inside her jacket and stepped towards fake me but Gabriel got there first as I clicked my fingers quietly and caused a ring of holy oil to form on the floor around Michael's feet; it was barely visible so he never even noticed it was there.

"Whoa, lady..." Gabe shielded my copy from her and held his hands up in front of his chest, "Step one inch further and you're gonna have two very angry archangels on your case..." Luci stepped towards her, too, just to emphasise the point.

"What is this? You have feelings for an abomination? And you call yourselves archangels..." Darwena tutted, tapping her foot on the hard floor and shaking her head before looking back towards Michael, "I suppose you're pride for your family is dwindling, honey?" She trailed off as her gaze panned down to the floor and her eyes widened, "Michael! Move-!"

"Too late!" I called from my spot in the shadows, setting the oil ablaze with a simple snap of my fingers and subsequently trapping Michael inside the circle of fire, "You should really watch where you stand, Michael..."

My mother lunged for me but I flashed out of her way, landing on the other side of them room and screaming as loud as possible in my mind, "Dad!"

Luci and Gabe had already pulled out their blades and begun taking on the demons that now surrounded them and me. I unsheathed my own and stabbed the one nearest to me before the familiar fluttering sound brought a grin to my face and I turned to find Dad and Castiel stood behind me. Flanking Cas on either side were Dean and Sam, both looking quite dizzy from the flight, whereas Dad had carried Bobby and Jody - all four of the humans were holding a different weapon, all of which would easily kill demons with just one slice.

Dad rushed to me as the others joined Gabe and Luci in the intense battle that was going on before us. I'd taken my doppelganger out almost immediately since it took a lot of effort to make it fight. "Are you okay, Darling?" Dad held my shoulders, looking me in the eyes as I nodded, "You know, you are in no state to be fighting with a baby on the way..."

"Oh, shut up, Dad," I complained as he chuckled. I looked over and saw Luci taking on my mother, "You weren't kidding when you said Mom was a bitch..."

"Your mother's here?" Dad asked wide-eyed, following my gaze, but as soon as he turned she'd vanished, "Where?"

"She was right there..." I trailed off, searching around for any sign of her.

"Oh well, perhaps she saw me and thought better of it. I don't know whether to be offended or hon-" All of a sudden he choked, blood splattering down his shirt as he looked down in shock, intense hurt pooling in his eyes. I looked to where he was staring and let out an involuntary scream at the sight of the scythe Darwena had been holding now protruding from his chest.

"Dad!" I grabbed his shoulders as he began to fall, quickly pulling him over to the wall as Gabe's head shot up at my scream. In seconds he was by my side as Dad shook and his body went into shock from the rapid blood loss, grasping my hands in his larger ones, "You're gonna be fine, Dad. Gabe can fix you, can't you, Gabe?" I tore my eyes away from Dad's injured form to look at Gabe whose face was grim and emotionless, "Gabe?"

"He can't help, Sweetheart..." Dad managed as tears began rolling down my cheeks and wetting the collar of my shirt, "It's too late for me, now... Promise me you won't give up-"

"Don't talk like that!" I cried, burying my face in his shoulder as he weakly stroked my hair, "You're gonna be okay! You can't leave me!"

"Elizabeth, I'm dying... I know you can't accept that but h-hear me out before I run out of time to say this... I love you, my b-beautiful, beautiful daughter, and you al-alone have made the past three weeks of my l-long life the best ones lived by any man or-" he coughed and more blood cascaded from his lips, "-angel. You are the most charming person I've ever met and believe me when I s-say that I am proud to have been able to call you my own. I'm proud to have you as m-my d-daughter..." He himself was in tears as choked out what he had to say and I wept uncontrollably beside him as Gabe held my shoulders, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes, too, "Oh, and Gabriel?"

"Yeah, Balthy?"

"Look after her. L-look after her and the baby. You'll make a great father, and if you don't I'll come back personally to kick your ass," Gabe smiled solemnly, a tear rolling down past his nose, and nodded as Dad turned back to me, his breaths becoming more and more shallow as he fought to hold on, "Make me proud, Elizabeth... Make your silly old Dad p-proud..."

And with that, a great burst of bright white light expelled itself from his body, filling the room with its light and thusly finishing off the last of the demons still fighting - Dad's last gift to us all. Then, as the light faded and the room became quiet, his eyes glazed over and the imprint of his beautiful wings lay charred and black and beautiful up the wall behind his fallen body...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry...


	42. Chapter 41

I wept for hours and hours after Gabe and Luci had finally managed to pry me away from Dad's cold, dead body. While Dad had been taking his last breaths, Luci had stabbed Darwena in the neck and she had died on the spot. A small part of me wished she hadn't, wished she'd felt every bit of pain that Dad had endured in those last few minutes, wished she'd been able to feel the life leaving her body as she died in agony...

But, I assured myself as my thoughts got more malicious, she was dead and she couldn't cause any more suffering to anyone. If only she'd been killed before she reached Dad...

We buried his body at my request, laying him to rest in a small piece of land out in the woods behind the bunker. Sam kindly conducted a makeshift funeral; a solemn affair where no one spoke a word but our thoughts were enough to fill a novel cover to cover. Afterwards, we drank together around the grave, none of us really feeling the happiness that the booze was supposed to bring but it was in memory of Balthazar so of course there had to be alcohol...

"Dad woulda liked dis..." I slurred, looking up at Gabe who held me close against his side as he carefully pulled the fifth beer bottle away from my hands. He didn't look at me, just kept his gaze on the headstone Lucifer had created which read, 'Here lies Balthazar. A father, brother and great friend to all who had the misfortune of meeting him. Also a drunk.' I knew I was supposed to laugh at the last bit but my mouth refused to release the sound as Gabe picked me up bridal style and carried my drunken form to my bedroom, laying me on the bed and leaving. 

Even though Dad was gone, he barely stepped foot inside...

Michael had been freed amidst all the chaos by some demon too loyal for its own good but hadn't gotten far before coming face to face with a certain Jody Mills. In her account of what had happened, he'd attempted to zap out of there but she'd been quicker and quickly used Gabe's discarded archangel blade against him, plunging it into his heart seconds before he'd disappeared. His location was now unknown but wherever he was, we doubted he would be coming after me again anytime soon - if he was even alive.

A knock on my door the next morning woke me up from the frequent nightmare I'd been having for the entire five days since Dad had died. It was just his death, on repeat like a broken record, replaying and replaying before my eyes as I watched on helplessly, unable to prevent it as Darwena stabbed him in the back with Death's scythe again and again and again.

"Can I come in?" Sam called quietly from the other side of the door. I must have made some noise of approval as he walked in and placed a tray of breakfast on my bed in front of me. I looked down at the plate and burst into tears once again - of course, he'd made pancakes...

Sam looked up in shock as I began to bawl my eyes out, rushing over to sit beside me and envelope me in a hug as I heard footsteps quickly approaching outside. "What did you do to her?" Gabe demanded from the doorway, deliberating whether to come in or not before shrugging and looking up somewhat apologetically as he hurried to my side, taking Sam's spot and ushering the Winchester out of the room, "Hey... shhh..."

"E-everything reminds me of him, Gabe..." I spluttered as I wept into his shoulder, feeling him bring his legs up and curl up with me under the comforter, "Everything I see... Everything I smell..." I looked down at the pancakes again and cried even harder.

He picked up the tray with his free hand and carefully moved it out of my eye line before pulling my tightly into his chest and shushing my sobs as our legs tangled together. "I know, baby... I know how you feel... Luci and I feel exactly the same - we loved him, too..."

"Luci hardly shows it..." I muttered, swiping at my tears with paw-like hands.

"Believe me, he's a wreck on the inside. Not only because of Balt but because it's hit you so hard..." his voice lowered to barely a whisper, "I don't think you realise how much we all care for you..."

"He cares about me?" I raised an eyebrow but he didn't see, "I thought he only wanted to use me against Michael?"

"Originally," Gabe admitted, "but you seem to have become friends and I get the feeling he doesn't want to ruin the first friendship he's ever had outside of his own brothers."

"Oh..." I looked up at him at that point, "You know, I never realised how lonely it must be being the Devil-"

"Probably more that you think." I turned my head and found Luce stood in the doorway, "I'm not going to intrude on whatever you have going on here," he gestured at our cuddled position, "Just wanted to let you know the Winchesters have gone out on a hunt and Bobby took Jody back to wherever they both live..."

"And Cas?" I asked.

"Searching for Michael. He's going to check back in if he finds anything," Luci replied, crossing his ankles and leaning against the doorframe, "I'll go now..."

"Wait!" I called after him as he turned to leave. I don't know why, I think it was the saddened look in his eyes that made me soften, "You can come in... I mean, if you'd like... It's better to face this with others than alone..."

Lucifer turned back on his heel, looking over at me as if checking to see if I was kidding or just being harsh. I sent a small smile his way and snapped my fingers, conjuring up three beanbags on the floor which I'd been intending to put there earlier. "You sure? I can go-"

"I'm sure, Luce," I confirmed, getting up and going over to him. Abruptly, I pulled him into a hug and he tensed up at the show of affection before relaxing slightly and hugging me back. "We're friends, right?"

I swore I saw him smile a genuine smile as he squeezed me slightly, almost picking me up due to his height, "Yeah, we're friends..." He smirked at the foreign word on his lips, resting his arms comfortably around my torso.

"And you call me soppy?" An amused cough from Gabe interrupted our hug and I turned to find him sprawled in one of beanbags, "Come on... are we having a heart to heart here or not?"

I couldn't help laughing as I pulled back from Luci and out of the corner of my eye I saw Gabe smile at the sound. My laugh - the echoing happiness he hadn't heard for over a week. Perhaps this was a sign of things looking up...

Perhaps...


	43. Chapter 42

I must have fallen asleep at some point while we were sitting in silence because I woke up to an empty room, covered in my comforter on the bed. It seemed I'd slept straight through the day and the rest of the night since I could hear sizzling from the kitchen and the clattering of plates. Sitting up, I caught a whiff of the air and could smell bacon - perhaps Gabe had advised Sam against pancakes for now...

I cursed myself as it reminded me of Dad. Gabe and Luci had been trying their best to keep him off my mind but it didn't seem to be working as a sob escaped my throat and I buried my face in my pillow. After a matter of seconds, I felt the mattress beside me compress and a hand brush my hair back from my face, tucking loose strands behind my ear.

"You need to get out of here, Beth..." Gabe sighed, smiling weakly as I peered up at him through my damp eyelashes, "It's not doing you any good, being surrounded by memories of him..."

"But where?" I croaked, my voice hoarse and muffled against the pillow.

I felt him shrug, "I don't know. Luci and I are gonna take you out somewhere after you've eaten something, get you some fresh air."

I groaned at the thought of leaving the warmth of my bed, "I'm not hungry." It was true, I wasn't and I didn't need food anyway but he seemed pretty adamant about it as he looked down at me.

"Please? Sam insisted on making breakfast again today since he upset you yesterday... He's really worked up about it, feels terrible..." he replied earnestly, "If you don't get up yourself, I'll force you..." The look in his eyes told me I didn't want to know his consequences...

"O-okay..." I rolled over and looked straight up at his face, my vision still blurry from the tears, "I'm getting up. I promise." I groaned, getting to my feet as my head span. Gabe steadied me as I swayed, holding my arm, "I'm okay, just a little dizzy..."

"It's probably the pregnancy," he observed, his eyes scanning over me before stopping at my abdomen, "It's probably best if you don't exert yourself too much, usually you'd be fine but, since your vessel is already straining at the sheer magnitude of your power, it's weaker... You shouldn't change vessels again until it's born, okay?"

I pulled a face as the room finally stopped spinning, "But that's another eight months, at least!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" I was interrupted by Gabe shushing me in a motherly tone, "You're pregnant and you're gonna have to get used to it, baby..." his arms slid around my waist, encasing me in his warmth as he looked down into my eyes, "I know it's hard for you with everything that's going on at the moment but you've got to start taking it easy on yourself. I'm aware that you're strong enough to do all of these things and sort everything on your own but your vessel isn't - just... let other people do things for you every once in a while, okay? Especially me because you know I refuse to let you do something I can..."

His lips turned up towards the end and I breathed out a sigh as he leaned down and pressed his soft lips to mine for a second. "Okay... just don't go treating me like a little kid. I can still do things for myself."

"I won't, I promise," he smiled, tightening his grip around me and lifting me from the floor. I squealed as he span around the room, laughing and making me even more dizzy.

A knock from the other side of the door threw me into silence as I heard Dean say, "Are you two having sex or something? I want to leave the room with my innocence intact!"

"What innocence? You don't know the meaning of the word!" Gabe shot back as the door cracked open and Dean peered around it cautiously before realising nothing indecent was going on. I swear I saw his face fall at that fact.

"Oh... is there a specific reason Liz was squealing? Or are you two just being cute because if you are I'm leaving..." He shook his head as he pushed the door open fully and Gabe set me back on my feet.

"What's up with being cute, Dean-O?" Gabe smirked, absentmindedly playing with stray strands of my hair as I leaned tiredly into his shoulder. Personally, I wasn't tired but my vessel was drained. "Just 'cause you aren't getting any..."

Dean's eyes went wide at the accusation, "I didn't come in here to be insulted. Sam told me to tell you breakfast is on the table."

"Okay, we'll be there in a minute." Gabe clicked his fingers and the door slammed shut in Dean's face as he leaned down and pulled me into a sweet kiss. I kissed back, smiling into it as he chuckled before pulling away, "Never forget that I love you, okay? And so does everyone else... well, apart from Cas - he doesn't understand the concept." He said the last part in monotone, sounding uncannily like the guy and making me laugh.

"Let's go make Sam feel better, you dolt..."

"Dolt? That's new," he let out a laugh when I slapped his chest before suddenly grabbing my knees and pulling me up to his chest bridal style, "Think I'll spare you the exhausting trouble of walking."

"What did I say about mollycoddling?" I pouted, crossing my arms but making no attempt to get down as he carried me out of the room and down the steps, each footsteps ringing on the metal.

"This isn't mollycoddling. This is Beth-coddling. Who the heck is Molly?" His chest shook as he laughed at his own terrible joke, "You're just gonna have to get used to it..."

I frowned, "I could easily smite you, you know?"

"Oh, I know," he smirked, hitching me up slightly as my body began to slip from his grasp, "but you won't..."

I raised an eyebrow at his chin, "And you know that how?"

"Because he's reading your mind," Luci spoke up as we entered the kitchen. I glared up at Gabe angrily before looking over to Lucifer who was sat on the counter with his ankles crossed as his legs dangled over the edge, "What? You didn't realise that?"

"No," I answered as Gabe glanced down at me sheepishly, "I can't believe you, Gabe! I told you to stop doing that!"

"Sorry..." he muttered, setting me down on the stool nearest Luci, "I promise I won't do it anymore, okay? I couldn't help myself..."

"Okay..." I was still annoyed as he pressed his lips to my forehead but as he looked down at me, the look in his whiskey eyes was enough to make me forgive him, "I hate loving you so much, you know..."

He smiled as Sam pushed a plate towards me, awkwardly avoiding Luci, "I know. What would you have to hate otherwise?"


	44. Chapter 43

"Where are we going, then?" I asked Luce through a mouthful of bacon and egg. Usually, I wouldn't eat so much food but I was starving, partly from grief and partly from the pregnancy, I think.

He looked down at me, pursing his lips in thought, "Haven't decided yet. Just... out. I hate being cooped up inside just as much as you do."

"You guys are going out somewhere?" Dean interrupted, looking up from his own breakfast and gesturing between us with his fork, "Why?"

"We think it'd be good for all three of us," Gabe strolled in from the library where he had been no doubt eavesdropping the entire time, "All the warding on this place has been wreaking havoc on me and Luci for the past week and Beth's already weak enough as it is. Having a change of scenery might get our strength back."

"You sure it's safe?" Sam asked, leaning against the counter across from where we were eating, "I mean, with all the angels?"

"We'll stay hidden. Won't stray too far," Luci assured him, laughing slightly as Sam flinched away from his voice, "Gee, Sam, are you still jumpy because of all those great times we had? Those fun karaoke nights?"

Sam gritted his teeth, "You mean when you kept me awake singing 'Stairway To Heaven' at two in the morning?" 

I bit back a snigger as Luci shrugged, "Hey, it's not my fault you wouldn't sing along..."

"Wait... those voices in his head really were you?" Dean looked between the two of them incredulously, "I thought he was just nuts."

"Hey!" Dean shrugged innocently as Sam glared at him.

"What? You were saying you could see the Devil, what was I supposed to think?"

Lucifer laughed at their bickering as I got up and put my empty plate in the sink, glancing my way before I sat back down, "I was bored in the pit so I slipped out when Michael wasn't looking and came to chat with my old cage buddy. Is that such a crime?"

"To be fair, you did kinda torture the kid, Luce..." Gabe pointed out, tilting his head as Luci shrugged again, looking up at me for some sort of input, "Beth wasn't here so why are you looking at her?"

"I can read minds just as well as you, Gabe." I sighed, looking up at him, "But I agree with you this time, it was pretty mean..." Luci looked hurt at my accusation but he was faking it, "Don't give me that look, Lucifer, I feel sorry for anyone who crosses paths with you..."

"Yes, mother..." He rolled his eyes sarcastically as he muttered the remark under his breath and I placed a hand on my hip as Gabe chuckled from the corner.

I let out an exaggerated breath, "Don't start talking about relationships in this family... if you really think about it - and I would advise not to - you're technically both my uncle and my grandfather..."

Luci's eyes widened and he pulled a face, "Okay, that is weird..." I nodded as he made possibly the biggest understatement of the past millennium.

"Wait..." Dean trailed off for a moment as I could hear the cogs turning in his head before his expression turned to horror, "That makes Gabriel your uncle! Man... ew..."

"It's best not to get into, uh, angel family trees..." Gabe looked down awkwardly as Dean's intimidating gaze turned to him, desperate to change the subject, "Uh... let's go out... now... preferably..."

"Isn't that incest or something?" Dean ignored him and continued pulling a face as Sam sighed behind me, raising an eyebrow at his brother

He went up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder to shut him up, "Dude, leave them alone. I can't see how it affects you how they're related and, no, I don't think it counts as incest with angels... Stop trying to turn everything into some sort of porno..." 

Dean flushed pink, "I-I... what? I wasn't!"

"Yeah, whatever you say, dude..." Sam rolled his eyes. He turned to us and the corners of his lips moved up slightly, "Go on. It's not your fault Dean can't overlook the basic, irrelevant things..." A pointed look was shot at his older brother and Dean shrugged childishly before getting up and wandering off, muttering something about being bullied and going to call Cas.

"Thanks, Sam." I smiled and he acknowledged me with a nod before following after Dean, "Don't wait up for us!"

"I won't. Just be back before tomorrow and call if anything goes wrong... you have my number, right?" He stopped in the doorway and turned on his heel, looking at me questioningly.

I nodded, "Yeah, Bobby gave it to me a while back and I memorised it."

He hummed and smiled kindly, turning back again and walking out of sight. With that, I looked to Gabe, "Are we gonna go now, then?"

"Anyone decided where we're actually headed?" He looked up at Luci and took my hand in his as I shrugged and Luce shook his head unhelpfully, "Great, real helpful, guys... Good job I know of a place around here..."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly our surroundings faded away from the kitchen of the bunker to the peak of a huge boulder-shaped rock, overlooking a beautiful cavern and a running stream. I peered around in awe and even Luci seemed a bit taken aback as Gabe smirked, the smugness rolling off him in waves as he hummed a tune to himself.

"What is this place?" I asked, finally finding my words as he guided me to sit down on the rock, my legs dangling precariously over the edge as the cool air hit my skin and began to fully wake me up with its temperature.

"It's mine," Gabe replied, smiling at the look of amazement in my eyes as he subconsciously slid his fingers through mine, "I made it a few millennia ago. Come to check on it every so often when I have some time. No humans have ever found it because I placed warding around it so it's exactly as I first made it, even down to the tiniest details..." He pointed down at an animal which had just come to the water to drink, "That's my own species. I got bored one time and decided a fish should have legs and wings..." I watched as the strange creature suddenly took flight, soaring above our heads and leaving only a fishy smell behind.

"You did this when you were bored?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Beth," Lucifer replied, crossing his legs and gazing down at the flowing water in thought, "Y'know, it's a lie when they say Rome wasn't built in a day. It only took me three Earth hours."

My eyes widened as I looked back to Gabe who was grinning from ear to ear at my reaction, looking at me hopefully, "You like it, then?"

"I love it! But... why?" I tilted my head at him in confusion, "Why make such a beautiful place and never show it to anyone?"

"Well, one," he counted on his fingers, "it makes it more special when I do show it to someone. And, two... well, everyone needs an escape from reality once in a while... even archangels..."


	45. Chapter 44

(Six months later)

I was now quite far along in the pregnancy and, boy, was the baby a kicker. Not only did I have to deal with my ever growing bump getting in the way but I also had to put up with the little tyke practising its kung-fu skills inside of me at all hours of the day.

"Oof..." I let out a breath as a foot suddenly assaulted my vessel's lungs, knocking the air from me as I hunched over in pain.

In seconds, Gabe was at my side, panicking as he always was nowadays, "Beth, are you alright? Is it the baby? Is it coming? Oh Father, I'm not ready to be a Dad!" 

"Gabe..." I muttered as he continued hyperventilating. Seriously, he was more emotional than I was, "Gabe!" He stopped short as I yelled, looking down at me with fear in his eyes, "Just... help me over to that chair." I gestured to the dining table where Luci was sat with his feet up, knowing full well that I was fine and not feeling the need to get up.

"Okay... okay..." Gabe breathed, cautiously doing as I instructed and sitting me in the seat as Luci shook his head behind his back, leaning back and looking up at the industrial lights that hung from the ceiling, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I rolled my eyes and Luce chuckled lowly, "I'm fine, Gabe. I'm only seven months in, the baby isn't coming yet..."

"You sure?" He glanced down at my swollen abdomen apprehensively.

"Yes, I'm pretty certain. I wish you'd stop overreacting every time something happens... Why can't you be calm like Luci is?" Lucifer smiled sweetly as Gabe looked to him, receiving a sneer of annoyance from the shorter man.

"Yeah, well, it's not his kid, is it? It's mine and I'm worried about it and you... If something bad happens, I could lose both of you..." Gabe looked down sadly as guilt hit me harder than any of the baby's kicks, "I just don't want to lose you, okay? I know that's silly but-"

I stopped him, placing a hand on his arm, "No, Gabe... that's not silly... I'm sorry, I understand..." He looked down at me, tears of frustration glistening in his eyes. I reached up and brushed them away with the back on my hand, "I know you care about me but this isn't healthy for you to be getting worried all the time. You have to calm down..."

He nuzzled into my hand slightly as I stroked his cheek, looking down and catching my gaze,"Okay... I'll try..."

"Good," I whispered, hearing his heartbeat start to slow after it had been racing at around a hundred kilometres per hour, "Now, come here..." 

I held out my arms and he stepped into a hug, careful not to push the bump too much in case its current inhabitant got a bit annoyed. Luci cleared his throat, reminding us he was still there, "Sam and Dean went out a while back, Gabriel. Something about a vampire nest in Oregon. What exactly were you doing in the library, anyway?"

Gabe looked up from my shoulder to face his brother, moving to perch on the table in front of both of us, "I was looking for anything about the baby but since it took us ages to find anything about Beth, I doubt we've got much chance of finding any info about it. Then, I got sidetracked reading one of the books Charlie brought last time she dropped in..."

I smiled fondly as I recalled the fun time we'd had during her last visit. She'd been helping out the Winchesters because the ghost of a League Of Legends player had come back with a vengeance on his former rivals and they were all dying in video game related circumstances - she was the one who figured that out, Sam and Dean thought it was just a confused poltergeist. Kindly, she'd offered me the contents of her personal library which she kept in the bunker and which contained about twenty titles, none of which I'd ever heard of.

"Which one?" I asked Gabe though even with a name I'd be none the wiser.

"It's called 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. I've read it before, I think, or I might have watched the movie at some point... anyway, I know the storyline is familiar. Surely you've read it?" I shook my head as he looked up at my intrigued expression, "Really? It's a classic."

"I've never had much time on my hands to read a book..." Luci looked thoroughly shocked at that, "What? For the first eighteen years, I was traumatised by the monsters under my bed, then I met you lot and for the past ten months it's been more than a little hectic..."

"Fair point," Luci hummed, "We'll have to show you the movie at some point..."

"Why not now?" Gabe tilted his head in question and I perked up a little at the idea. Maybe a movie would be just the thing to stop the baby kicking.

"Because I've got a better idea for now. We haven't been out for a couple of weeks now," his brother pointed out and looked down at me, "Put some shoes on and grab whatever else you need. We're going out."

"We are?" Gabe seemed as surprised as I was.

"Where?" Luci tapped the side of his nose, indicating it was a secret. "Aww, please?"

Luce chuckled as I pouted, "Nope. You'll like it though."

I frowned childishly, hoping I could persuade him by looking cute but he just laughed and shooed me away so I got up reluctantly and waddled up to Gabe and I's now shared bedroom. At the start, he'd been apprehensive about going in my room due to Dad's warning but after a few weeks he relaxed and began coming inside. Since my vessel needed sleep now due to the pregnancy, he slowly started coming in at night and holding me close as I slept, his warmth making me smile every morning when I woke up.

As for the grief after Dad's passing, I was still sensitive about the subject but the tears had stopped though the space in my heart would never be filled. He wanted me to be happy; he wouldn't have wanted me upset at his death - Gabe and Luci assured me of that every day.

We hadn't been back to Heaven since the happenings with Michael. Castiel had confirmed him dead around a month after that day after finding his body, wings and all, in Boston where he appeared to have fled to. An angel named Ezekiel (the real one) had been appointed the temporary ruler of Heaven in his absence and now ruled with Cas at his side, the trenchcoated angel occasionally stopping by to give us updates although nothing really seemed to be happening up there.

Hell had been quiet, too, and for that we were all thankful. The past six months had been potentially the calmest of my life, living with two archangels at my sides.

Life was good and with a child on the way, surely things could only get better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of 'Trouble With The Trickster' as I think it's a good place to stop. There will be a sequel called 'Anarchy With The Archangel' just as soon as I've written it and after this chapter, there is a one shot style epilogue going into detail of where Lucifer is taking them.
> 
> It took me a month and a half to write this story and I think it's my best work as I've enjoyed every second of it. I hope you all enjoyed it, too :)
> 
> See you in the sequel!  
> xx


	46. Epilogue/One Shot

"Ready!" I called from the top of the stairs as Gabe and Luci both looked up at me. Smiling, Gabe jogged up, his feet clanging on the metal steps before he carefully picked me up and walked back down to meet Luce since I'd found I couldn't walk down myself anymore without fear of falling head first. I pecked his lips as he let me down and looked up at Luci who was rolling his eyes, "Are you gonna tell me where we're going now?"

He shook his head, smirking at my annoyance but knowing full well I couldn't harm him with putting the baby at risk, "No, sweetheart. You'll find out soon enough."

I looked to Gabe but he shrugged, too, apparently just as clueless as I was. Frowning, I turned again to Luce and sighed, "Okay, fine. Take us on this magical mystery tour, then..."

"Please, I'm not John Lennon," he rolled his eyes and looked at me, unimpressed, "I'll go. You two follow me. I'm really not into the whole holding hands thing like you two are..."

Gabe chuckled as Luci disappeared, looking at me and taking my hand in his, "Let's go."

Seconds later, we landed in a valley overlooking a huge lake. Gabe kept ahold of my hand as he looked around, clearly puzzled at where we were. "Where is this?" I questioned, pulling his attention back to me.

"It's... impossible..." he mused, his eyes flicking around us beneath his furrowed eyebrows, "This place doesn't exist..."

"Why? Where are we?" How could we be in a place that doesn't exist?

"This is England," he trailed off, looking at something behind me. I was pretty sure England existed so I had no idea where he was going with this. "And, uh, that," he gestured up at where he was staring, "That's Hogwarts..."

I turned on my heel and gazed up at what appeared to be a huge castle, lit up against the dimming night sky. It appeared to be glowing in the darkness, illuminated as if by magic, "What the heck is Hogwarts?"

Gabe stared at me like I'd gone mad before his eyes softened slightly, "Oh, I forgot. Hogwarts is the castle in Harry Potter - it's where all the wizards and witches go to learn magic." My eyes widened at the bizarreness of what he'd just said and he sighed, "That's what the books are about..."

"Right... I'm guessing it's very fictional, then?" He nodded and glanced back up to the castle, it's light reflecting in his eyes, "So... Luci did this?"

"More than like-" 

"Mr. Shurley? Miss Novak?" He was cut off by a questioning female voice as a new source of light splayed across the grass from the pathway up ahead. We both turned, finding an older woman in a long winter cloak and a pointed hat, "Oh, you finally turned up. The headmaster said you may have gotten lost."

At my side, Gabe gasped slightly as if he recognised her and I gave him a pointed look before he choked out, "The h-headmaster?"

"Yes, yes. Now, come along or we'll have to start the feast without you which just wouldn't do..." She turned on her heel and I guessed she wanted us to follow as she headed inside. 

As we reached the spacious entrance hall, our footsteps echoing on the flagstones, Gabe nudged my side, "That's Professor McGonagall..."

I hummed so as not to spoil his mood but hadn't got a clue what that meant. Presumably she was an important character. Only seconds later, said woman came to a halt before a pair of ornate doors which stretched far above our heads as if they were made for giants - there were no giants in this world... I hoped...

"Err... there are giants..." Gabe's voice rang through my head and I shot him a glare.

"What the hell? Also, what have I told you about reading my thoughts? This is getting ridiculous..."

He shrugged sheepishly as 'McGonagall' pushed open the doors like they bore no weight. Immediately, I was in awe, my mouth dropping open at the pure amazement that lay beyond the threshold.

Inside was a cavernous hall, filled to the brim with people who sat along four long tables, each wearing different colours corresponding to, what I guessed were, the school houses or teams. Everyone looked up as the doors swung open but McGonagall ignored them completely and ushered the two of us inside, stalking down the centre of the room up to a larger table which stood at the top and was lined with presumably the teachers.

Three seats were empty, one beside the middle and the other two on the end beside a large, hairy man with wild hair. She pointed us to the end ones and we quickly took them, both Gabe and I still horribly confused as she stepped up to her own seat next to a man with a long beard and a purple robe - the headmaster... only it wasn't.

I elbowed Gabe in the ribs, pulling him away from whatever thoughts he was having as he stared out at the students. As he looked my way, I nodded towards the head and he turned back, his eyes widening at the familiar face. "Yeah..." I muttered under my breath, "I think I found Luci..."

The moment the words left my mouth, the man himself glanced over at me and smirked through the incredibly over the top beard he'd donned. I shook my head and he chuckled before he was pulled back to the situation by McGonagall as she tapped her fork against her glass, bringing the hall into silence. "The headmaster will now say a few words."

Luci looked at her bizarrely as if to say 'I will?', "Uh, yeah... Don't do drugs kids... and, uh, eat some food..." He snapped his fingers and suddenly all four tables were filled with a banquet, "I'm gonna talk to the guests..." He excused himself from the table as the teachers exchanged looks of bewilderment but he ignored them and came to stand beside us, "You like it?"

"Luci, you are the worst Dumbledore I've ever seen..." Gabe rolled his eyes, "Wait... where's the real one?"

"In a broom cupboard in the Ravenclaw common room..." He laughed as Gabe's expression turned to one of horror whilst I could only understand half the words he was saying, "Oh, he'll be fine. I gave him some candy and he didn't argue. Besides, we're not here to talk about him-"

"What exactly are we here for?" I interrupted, raising an eyebrow at him as Gabe hummed in agreement, looking at Luci expectantly.

Luci splayed his hands out in front of him as if the answer was there in front of us but it definitely wasn't. He sighed, "I thought it was obvious? So that you can learn things about Harry Potter."

"So, you decided to bring us into the univers-? Actually, you know what, I'm done questioning you, Luce... What do you have planned?" 

He chuckled as I rolled my eyes and folded my arms atop my ever-growing bump, "I just wanted to have a bit of fun. By the look on Gabriel's face, I can see he's raring to have a look around."

Gabe turned pink as soon as I looked to him, giggling at the excitable look on his face and seeing that Luci was completely right. "What?" his eyes widened in wild bewilderment, "I just like Harry Potter, okay? That's not a crime..."

"Right..." I teased making him flush red in embarrassment as I ruffled his hair with my hand. I turned back to Luci, "Let's have a look around then..."

\---------------

"Oh my father!" Gabe suddenly breathed as we turned a corner towards the school kitchen. Luce had abandoned his disguise because apparently the characters couldn't see us if we didn't want them to so his face was now beardless. It was a shame - he suited facial hair.

My eyes widened as my boyfriend suddenly rushed towards a pile of barrels against the wall, "Uh, Gabe? You okay?"

"It's the Hufflepuff common room! The only one not in the books!"

I raised an eyebrow, "And it's in a stack of barrels?"

"Well, no..." he replied, probably realising he looked insane, "It's behind the barrels. I know how to get in, though!"

I was about to reply when Luci cut in before me, "Yeah, well, if I remember rightly it involves crawling through a barrel and it seems to have slipped your mind that your girlfriend is pregnant. So, you can go that way if you want but I'm going to take Beth the easier way round..."

Gabe looked over to me, the realisation of his stupidity still clear in his eyes, "Oh, yeah... I'll go round with you, Beth. It doesn't really matter..."

The sadness he tried desperately to hide still showed on his face and I felt a pang of guilt as Luci looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to go with him. "Oh, well... you can go that way if you really want to - and I can tell you do," Gabe's face turned pink in embarrassment of his fanboy ways, "I'll go with Luce and we'll see you inside."

He smiled sheepishly and nodded, "Thanks, Beth..."

I smiled back as Luci zapped the two of us inside. "That was nice of you," he observed, "Usually, I make fun of him for nerding out."

"Yeah, and that's why your family has issues," I countered as he chuckled, faking a hurt look, "It's true and you know it."

We stood there for a few seconds, waiting, until Gabe appeared through the small doorway. His face lit up almost immediately, looking straight past us to the room behind which was empty thanks to this being a figment of Luci's imagination, "Oh, wow... it's so perfect..."

"Why thank you, Gabriel. I didn't know you saw me like that," Luce joked, holding a hand to his chest and fluttering his eyelashes as Gabe shot him a Sam-style bitch face.

"Not you, idiot. The room!"

"And here I was thinking you actually liked me," Luci pouted, glancing to me in mock jealousy, "What has Beth got that I haven't?"

Gabe began looking around the rest of the room, his fingertips lingering over the bookshelves and furnishings, "Uh, a lot of things. I could list them but we'd be here for quite a few years." He looked over to me as he said it, making my cheeks flush pink at the compliment and he smiled at the reaction, "One, she's cute when she blushes."

"I could be cute if I wanted to be," his brother argued, strolling over and flopping on one of the black couches before looking up at us with puppy eyes, "See?"

Gabe raised an eyebrow at him as I went and sat in the armchair opposite, watching my boyfriend as he continued to look around in awe. "Yeah, Luce, not sure if that's more cute or creepy. I'm leaning towards the latter."

"Gabriel, your girlfriend is very rude. Ditch her and love me instead!"

Gabe chuckled, finally satisfied that he'd seen everything the common room had to offer as he came and perched on the arm of my chair, "Never! No offence, Luci, but... you're not my type..."

Lucifer gasped in mock horror and clutched his chest like he'd been shot, "How could you say such a horrible thing to me, Gabey-Baby? I thought you loved me!"

"It was all a rouse!" Gabe cackled, playing along and leaning back against my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around his middle, careful not to press on my bump, "Muh ha ha ha!" He turned to me with a similar evil glint in his eye.

"Oh shi-" was all I managed, knowing exactly what he was going to do before he even did it. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe through my laughter as his hands attacked my sides, brutally tickling me as Luci watched on, laughing, "This is bullying! Bullying, I tell you!"

It seemed like the rest of the day passed by like that, laughing and giggling between the three of us as we wreaked havoc throughout the entire castle. By the time we returned to the bunker, all I could do was sleep, snuggling tightly into Gabe's side and drifting off into a peaceful sleep...


End file.
